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Arizona Cardinals fans mourned a bit with the news that defensive coordinator Ray Horton was not named the head coach of the team, but things got worse on Friday because he became the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, joining Rob Chudzinski's staff there.
We heard of how displeased Horton was with the situation, for whatever reason. Maybe it was because he felt the team led him to believe he had a better shot than he did, or because he simply just didn't get the job. However, when Bruce Arians was hired, it became known that Horton was going to be out despite the friendship he and Arians have.
The timeline for Horton's departure went like this on Friday:
First, Arizona Sports' Kyndra de St. Aubin reported that Horton had been let out of his contract by the Cardinals.
Ray Horton has officially been released from his contract. He was told that Bruce Arians wanted Todd Bowles.
— Kyndra de St. Aubin (@Kyndra620) January 18, 2013
After that, NFL.com writer Ian Rapaport clarified the situation.
Hmm RT @rapsheet: Horton is not out of his contract with Cards They've given him right to talk to others. Salary partially offsets if signed
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) January 18, 2013
However, the original de St. Aubin report turned out to be correct, as Kent Somers tweeted.
As @kyndra620 reported, Ray Horton has officially been released from his #azcardinals contract. Source: Ray Horton
— Kent Somers (@kentsomers) January 18, 2013
It was not long after that the Cleveland Browns announced that he would be their next defensive coordinator. Kyndra de St. Aubin then gave us more info, as she got the info from Horton himself.
Horton contract w/ Browns 4 yrs $8 mil-says he's ecstatic bout going 2 CLE
— Kyndra de St. Aubin (@Kyndra620) January 18, 2013
Horton is getting paid. This actually lets the Cardinals off the hook with salary. They would have had to have paid whatever the difference between his new salary and the salary he had here, but it seems that he got a raise.
Horton joins offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who many fans here hoped would be the OC here with Horton as head coach.
Todd Bowles is expected to land with the Cardinals to take the defensive coordinator position that Horton vacates.
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