When Jonathan Gannon took the Arizona Cardinals‘ head coaching job, the hope was to build a contender; instead, just over a season later, his tenure is defined by a 15-29 record and swirling rumors of his imminent departure.

“With the caveat that hot-seat speculation at this time of year usually comes from people on the outside monitoring things, not internal sources, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon has come up as a firing candidate,” NFL Trade Rumors’ Logan Ulrich writes.

Well, whatever rumor made its way to Ulrich doesn’t sound completely insane. In fact, there might be something to it.

The offense and defense of Arizona are stuck even below the middle of the pack. After winning two straight games, the 5-game losing streak continues till the bye week. Though in these five losses, the Cardinals still appeared relevant, staying competitive despite losing all those games in clutch situations. They even entered week 9 with a bang, defeating the Cowboys 27-17. But what happened after that raised many eyebrows about Gannon’s play-calling.

Since week 10, things started going downhill for Gannon’s Cardinals. They lost embarrassingly to the Seattle Seahawks (44-22), the same team that they gave a tough fight in week 4. The next game was no different when San Francisco claimed a comfortable 41-22 victory.

With all these outings as a head coach, Gannon isn’t just under the spotlight; it is shining brightly on him. The playoff chances are almost gone. Sure, it looks like he’s on the hot seat, but moving on isn’t going to be this simple for some others.

Kyler Murray: Can’t hit the scoreboard, but harder to let go

Kyler Murray has been sidelined after just five games into the season due to a foot injury against the Tennessee Titans. He would probably not return until week 14. But it is still unclear whether the Cardinals’ owners want to keep Murray or part ways with the head coach and the QB. While it might seem easy to show the door to Gannon, getting rid of their quarterback doesn’t sound easy for Arizona on paper.

Murray’s massive contract is the biggest hurdle to parting ways cleanly. His deal with the Cardinals features about $103.3 million fully guaranteed, around $160 million in total guarantees over a five-year and $230.5 million extension through 2028. Trading him would create $35.3 million in cap, leaving behind $17.9 million in dead money. Cutting him outright would trigger one of the biggest dead cap hits in NFL history.

Also, moving on from Murray would require a trade partner willing to take on his contract or absorb a large cap penalty themselves. Both of these situations appear unlikely. In his five games, he racked up 962 yards with a completion rate of more than 68.3%. But what appeared like a promising season might be his final ride with Arizona. So for now, it seems Kyler is safe, but the firing clouds still loom over his head coach, and the next couple of games could be his redemption time.