Nathaniel Hackett joins Cardinals as new offensive coordinator, joining Mike LaFleur's new staff

Apparently, offensive coordinators have to stay within the family. After spending years on Matt LaFleur's staff with the Green Bay Packers, Nathaniel Hackett will be hired by Mike LaFleur to be the next offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals, sources tell CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz.

From 2019-21, Hackett served as the Packers' offensive coordinator under Matt LaFleur, and he orchestrated one of the most efficient red-zone offenses in the NFL with Aaron Rodgers at the helm. After brief and disastrous stints as the coach of the Denver Broncos and offensive coordinator of the New York Jets, Hackett reunited with the elder LaFleur brother this past season as a defensive analyst with the Packers.

That familiarity with the LaFleur family likely played a factor in Hackett landing another offensive coordinator job with the Cardinals. Mike LaFleur has already said he'll call plays in Arizona, so Hackett may take on a role similar to the one he had as the offensive coordinator in Green Bay. In Hackett's first stint with the Packers, the offense never finished worse than 15th in scoring, and the team ranked first in 2020 with 31.8 points per game.

That success led to Hackett becoming the Broncos coach in 2022, but he lasted just one season following a 4-11 campaign. From 2023-24, Hackett reunited with Rodgers in New York, but the duo wasn't able to recapture the magic they had in Green Bay. Rodgers missed all but a few snaps of the 2023 season with an Achilles injury, and the Jets averaged just 19.9 points per game in 2024.

Last fall, Hackett rejoined Matt LaFleur's staff as a defensive analyst to give his perspective as an offensive mind. Last week, it seemed like Hackett was set to join former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley's staff in Miami as the new Dolphins quarterback coach, but he will get a bigger role with Mike LaFleur and the Cardinals.