TEMPE, Ariz. -- Larry Foote doesn't have to decide just yet if he's going to retire from football.
The linebacker can try his hand at being an assistant coach for the Arizona Cardinals this offseason and then decide on his playing future.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio that Foote will be joining the Cards' staff, signing his contract either Thursday or Friday. But Arians said Foote can return to playing before rosters are cut down to 75 players.
"We talked to the league," Arians said. "He's allowed to start coaching."
But don't call Foote a player-coach. Arians said the NFL Players Association won't allow it.
"He's on the coaching staff right now," Arians said.
Foote, who turns 35 on June 12, was noncommittal about his future all season. At one point in October, he said he was taking the season week by week. He was signed in May as a temporary replacement for Daryl Washington, who, at the time, was expected to be suspended for a few games. Foote said he was initially told he'd be needed for six games, but when Washington was suspended May 30 for at least a year, Foote was thrust into an every-down role for every game.
A year after missing 15 games because of a biceps injury, he missed just one game and finished second on the team in tackles.