Bruce Arians to step away from Arizona Cardinals’ head coaching job next week...maybe

Per a report from Pro Football Weekly, there may be a head coaching vacancy in the NFC West - a division owned by the Los Angeles Rams - as early as next week.

Bruce Arians, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year who is just less than two seasons removed from taking the Arizona Cardinals to the NFC title game, will agree to part ways with the Cardinals next week, multiple sources tell Pro Football Weekly.

This move comes as a surprise to many, considering Arians’ relative success as the head coach in Arizona — having gone 48-30-1 in his five years with the team. But the injury-plagued Cardinals are trending in the wrong direction. Two years removed from playing the NFC Championship game, the Cardinals finished the 2016 season a 7-8-1 team, and can only reach .500 this season with a Week 17 win over the Seahawks...in Seattle.

The legitimacy of the claim, or the source, has already been called into question. Josh Weinfuss, who covers the Cardinals for ESPN, knows someone close to the situation —calling the news “100 percent not true.” Weinfuss isn’t the only one hearing contradictory information.

We’ve got at least another to week to see if Arians and the Cardinals decide to part ways — mutually or otherwise. For now, consider it rumblings.

There should be plenty of head coaching jobs opening up at the conclusion of the 2017 season. Keep an eye out for Jeff Fisher as a dark horse candidate to take some lowly, gullible NFL team to the highest heights of a 7-win season.