Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill fired coach Kliff Kingsbury Monday morning and accepted the resignation of general manager Steve Keim the same day. This was, as you’ll remember, less than a year after signing both to sizable extensions meant to keep them in red polo shirts longer than a full election cycle.
Depending on the terms of these deals, Bidwill will be paying off these decisions for quite some time. The pressing question at the moment, though, is whether he will make Cardinals fans pay for them as well.
Here’s the thing about being an NFL owner that a lot of people don’t understand: If you want something, you can have something, as long as you’re willing to pay for it. If you want to be the Eagles this year, signing veteran free agents deep into November to bolster a run to the No. 1 seed, just open your checkbook. You want to be Robert Kraft, furnishing your club with whatever technology Bill Belichick stumbles into during a visit with some of the military’s most cutting-edge experts? Cool, hand over the credit card. If you want to be the 49ers, somehow rolling into the playoffs with relative health even though all of your best players are professional headbangers, you know what it takes to assemble the medical and recovery staff of your dreams.
