TEMPE, Ariz. -- Like with Patrick Peterson and Carson Palmer before him, the Arizona Cardinals almost had to extend defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.

But in the end, it may not matter.

ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that the Cardinals signed Bowles to a three-year extension through the 2017 season that will make him one of the five highest-paid assistants in the league.

Bowles has been the architect of one of the league’s best defenses -- especially against the run and even more so in the fourth quarter. And what’s made him even more attractive to teams this season is how he has been able to do it with a depleted front seven. Arizona lost Karlos Dansby, Daryl Washington and Darnell Dockett before the season started and then John Abraham in Week 1. Add in the short-term losses of Calais Campbell and Matt Shaughnessy, and the Cardinals were, at times, playing with one starter from last year’s defense.

Yet they still flourished on defense.

Bowles’ creativity -- and his penchant for blitzing -- has been on display throughout his time under Bruce Arians, his former college coach at Temple, in Arizona. The Cardinals are fifth in the league blitzing at a 41.1 percent clip. But it’s how Bowles doesn’t mind tearing up a game plan that adds to the intrigue surrounding him and will make him one of the most sought-after assistants in the NFL after this season. Against Dallas, Bowles turned his 3-4 scheme into a 4-3 defense and ended DeMarco Murray's NFL record run of 100-yard rushing games. He's flexible. He does what needs to be done to win.

In January, after the Cards’ defense finished last season No. 1 against the run, Bowles interviewed with two teams, Minnesota and Cleveland. Expect that number to increase after this season, but Bowles, as he was last year, will continue to be selective. Arizona’s extension will certainly drive up his asking price as a head coach, but if the right opportunity doesn’t arise, he’s locked in with the Cardinals for the next three seasons. Bowles was the Miami Dolphins' interim coach in 2011, going 2-1.

However, I think this is his last season in Arizona. It'll be tough for Bowles to turn down a head-coaching contract if it's on par with what Washington's Jay Gruden received, which was a reported $20 million guaranteed. And the deeper he coaches into January, the higher his price tag will be. But it'll take the right team to wait him out and wait until Bowles' season is over. That's the team he'll want to go to.

He’s been able to coach in Arizona with almost complete autonomy. Arians said he may talk to Bowles about twice a week, usually every Tuesday for sure, about what Bowles has planned for the upcoming Sunday. Then Arians lets Bowles be Bowles.

Arians doesn’t doubt what Bowles has dialed up, whether it’s a high number of blitzes or a 4-3 front. Whenever Arians questions his former player at Temple, Bowles responds with a thought-out plan.

“I have all the trust in the world in him,” Arians said. “He doesn’t have to talk much. ‘What are you thinking? Boom, boom. How do you feel?’ I guess the question is, ‘How do you feel about these guys?’ I always get a straight, honest answer, so I know how I want the call the game offensively.”