The Pulse: Fans don’t see Todd Bowles sticking with the Arizona Cardinals long term

The Arizona Cardinals have flourished on defense ever since Todd Bowles took over the reins of that side of the ball.

Last week, ESPN football insider John Clayton told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM‘s Doug and Wolf that he’d be stunned if Bowles doesn’t accept a head coaching job with another team before the start of the 2015 NFL season.

This week, Cardinals did their part to address those concerns by signing the defensive coordinator to a three-year extension. Bowles called the offer “very generous, very humbling.”

With that in mind, we asked in our most recent Sanderson Ford Poll Question of the Day if the contract extension will keep the defensive mastermind with the Cardinals for the long term. In other words, will he still be with the team at the end of that three-year contract?

We only offered responses of yes or no, and 61 percent (292 overall) of the 481 voters chose the negative option. Perhaps they think it’s inevitable that Bowles will want to head up another NFL team; or, maybe some were thinking that things could eventually go south for the team, and that Bowles will be dismissed before that contract expires.

Only 189 voters (39 percent) said that they think the defensive coordinator will be in Arizona until the end of that three-year deal, if not longer.

Clayton noted last week that going to the Super Bowl, or at least the NFC Championship Game, this season would go a long way toward keeping Bowles with the Cardinals, at least through the 2015 season.

In Bowles’ first year at the helm of the defense, Arizona just barely missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record. In year two, the team has jumped out to an NFL-best 8-1 start through the season’s first 10 weeks. The Cardinals next face the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium. The game begins at 2:25 p.m. and can be heard on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.