Critiquing Cardinals Offseason

There were some hits and misses in the Arizona Cardinals' offseason according to ESPN.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon during minicamp at Dignity Health Training Center on June 11, 2024. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals kept the status quo this offseason.

It was another stretch where the Cardinals opted not to do anything "sexy" in either free agency or the draft, a strategy that's boded quite well since GM Monti Ossenfort arrived last offseason.

That didn't quite impress ESPN's Seth Walder, who graded each team's offseason as minicamp breaks and we await the dog days of summer.

Walder offered a pretty lengthy explanation to his reasoning for Arizona's C+ grade, which put them in the bottom ten of the league.

Let's break it down:

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Walder: "The Cardinals are still waiting to make their move. The 2024 offseason was about adding young talent -- the Cardinals made 12 draft picks, including seven in the first three rounds -- instead of making veteran upgrades to a generally lacking roster."

Our take: That's a fair assessment. Many were curious to see if the Cardinals believed they would turn things around rather quickly with a couple big moves, though Arizona ultimately remained patient.

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Walder: "The addition of receiver Marvin Harrison Jr ., selected with the fourth overall pick, means that quarterback Kyler Murray has a solid combination of threats between Harrison and tight end Trey McBride, with potential upside from second-year receiver Michael Wilson, too. That said, I would have tried to keep Brown for more than the one-year, $7 million deal he received from the Chiefs (it's possible he took less to play with Patrick Mahomes ). Jones is a solid depth player for cheap, though the Cardinals dealt receiver Rondale Moore for quarterback Desmond Ridder in a swap of disappointments."

Our take: The Cardinals really improved their offensive firepower this offseason. To Walder's point, it's probable Brown wanted a fresh start away from Arizona - plus his deal with the Chiefs was a win-win in getting to put up numbers with Mahomes, competing for a Super Bowl and potentially cashing out next offseason. Also, for what it's worth, Jones is a better receiver than Moore.

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Walder: "Arizona signed Williams to play right tackle, but all that means is that they have question marks at both tackle positions between him and Paris Johnson Jr . (though both are former first-round picks with upside). Williams and Johnson ranked 53rd and 63rd, respectively, out of 69 qualifiers in pass block win rate at tackle last season."

Our take: This was a massive question all offseason - where would PJJ and Williams ultimately play? Gannon said he reserved the right to switch the two at any time, though many believe the left side is Johnson's natural position. Williams didn't fare too bad on the right side for Cincinnati last season either.

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Walder: "Defensively, the Cardinals signed defensive end Justin Jones, cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting and defensive end Bilal Nichols. But the defense looks weak on paper, particularly in terms of pass rush and at corner."

Our take: Hard to refute anything Walder said here. Corner and edge rusher remains the two biggest question marks on the defensive side of the ball, as well as the entire roster.

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Walder: "Ultimately, Arizona is saving its cap resources for next year -- it has the fourth-most cap space in 2024 and second-most in 2025 -- after the Cardinals got a sense of where they stand with their recent draft picks. For a team far away, it's not a bad strategy, but this isn't a winning roster, even with a franchise QB I'm quite high on."

Our take: This isn't quite a perennial playoff roster, but the Cardinals could surely find their way into postseason contention later in the season, or at least win more games than some believe.