Report: Cardinals OC Drew Petzing finalizing deal to become Lions OC

The Detroit Lions are finalizing a deal with former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing as their next OC, according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Petzing spent the past three season with the Cardinals under head coach Jonathan Gannon. Gannon was fired the Monday after Arizona’s season finale loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Under Gannon, the Cardinals went 15-36.

In the lone season under John Morton, the Lions offense had the fifth-most total yards per game (373.2), third-most passing yards (253.1) and the 14th-most rushing yards (120.1). Quarterback Jared Goff and Co. also scored 28.3 points per game, which was good enough for a share of fourth with the Buffalo Bills.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell spearheaded a portion of this success, as he took over playcalling duties in Week 10.

Morton was fired on Jan. 6 following Detroit’s 9-8 record. The Lions missed the postseason for the first time since the 2022 season.

Drew Petzing’s track record with Cardinals

In what was supposed to be a major step forward in Year 3 under general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon, the Cardinals’ offense took a major step backwards under Petzing in 2025.

Questionable playcalling in critical moments, injuries and poor execution just about summed up the unit. The only bright spots were tight end Trey McBride and wide receiver Michael Wilson.

Instead of boasting one of the league’s top rushing attacks — something it had done the past two years with Petzing calling the shots — the Cardinals finished the season 31st in rushing yards per game (93.1), 29th in rushing touchdowns (nine) and 16th in yards per carry (4.3).

Losing running backs James Conner and Trey Benson greatly impacted the offensive’s output. The offensive line didn’t live up to expectations, either, behind injuries and inconsistency. Losing offensive line coach Klayton Adams to the Dallas Cowboys likely played a factor, too.

With a nonexistent run game, plus a quarterback swap from Kyler Murray to Jacoby Brissett, Petzing was forced to change up his approach and lean into a more pass-heavy offense.

The numbers with Brissett under center looked better than with Murray at the helm, but the results remained largely the same.

Arizona may have finished seventh in both passing yards (232.6) and passing touchdowns (27) but earned just one win since Brissett took over and ranked 23rd in scoring per game (20.9). Arizona saw the fifth most sacks taken (59) and was 19th in total yards per game (325.8).

Those numbers are far different from Arizona sitting 12th in points (23.5) and 11th in total yards (358.2) per game just a season ago.

Petzing likely isn’t the only major departure from the current Cardinals offense either, with Murray’s time in Arizona seemingly up after his own 2025 issues.

Arizona Sports’ Payne Moses contributed to this report.

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