After losing their defensive coordinator to the Cardinals, the Eagles are interested in speaking with Arizona’s four-year DC. Philadelphia wants to meet with Vance Joseph, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports tweets.
Although a former interview request has not yet emerged, that is the expectation here. The Cardinals have Joseph under contract and could block any DC request, though it is unclear if Jonathan Gannon would do so. The defense-oriented coach will likely be moving on from Joseph and most of his staff.
Joseph, 50, looks to be a popular name late in this year’s hiring period. The Broncos, who employed him as their head coach from 2017-18, have already submitted an interview request. A Joseph request will depend on Eagles internal meetings Thursday, per Anderson, but the team does not have an obvious in-house replacement the way it might on offense. QBs coach Brian Johnson and passing-game coordinator Kevin Patullo are in place as candidates to replace Shane Steichen, but the Eagles were interested in Vic Fangio and Jerod Mayo for Gannon’s old job. Both coaches are now off the market. Fangio is now a highly paid Dolphins DC, and Mayo agreed to stay in place as Bill Belichick‘s right-hand man on that side of the ball.
The Cardinals interviewed Kliff Kingsbury‘s DC to potentially replace him, but Joseph did not advance far in that process. The team had three other DCs — Gannon, Lou Anarumo, Brian Flores — as finalists, though Flores turned down a second interview to take the Vikings’ DC position. Joseph should soon be available for what would be his fourth run as either a defensive coordinator or a head coach leading a team’s defense.
A former Dolphins DC and Broncos HC, Joseph has seven years’ experience as a leader on defense. But he has been an NFL assistant since 2005. Joseph’s 2020 and 2021 Cardinals defenses ranked 10th and sixth in DVOA, respectively, though last season’s unit — J.J. Watt and Zach Allen‘s production notwithstanding — encountered rougher waters during a woeful season in Arizona. The Cards’ 2022 defense slotted 24th in DVOA during a 4-13 season — one that featured most headlines coming from the offensive side of the ball.
Were the Eagles to consider an in-house candidate, defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson has surfaced as the early preference. But the team is still early in its search. The Eagles just became the first team since the Bengals in 2014 to see both their offensive and defensive…