Buy/Sell Cardinals Offseason Narratives

The Arizona Cardinals have plenty of narratives around them - let's evaluate some.

Josh Sweat speaks to members of the media at the Arizona Cardinals Training Center in Tempe on March 13, 2025. / Diannie Chavez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals nailed a lot of the offseason, but they also fumbled more than a few times. It’s what we’ve come to expect from the home team, but it’s still common across the league.

I’m a proponent that overall, this was a good start to the offseason with far more success than failures. With that said, if you were to break things down on a much smaller level, that’s where things get a bit more dicey.

Below we are going to look at the offseason moves as a whole. We will base them off of statements and decide whether we “buy” or “sell” what the narrative is.

Some of these narratives stand out much more than others, which leads to some “soft” and “hard” decisions. There’s also instances where either side of the coin makes sense.

TAKE: Cardinals did enough in free agency

The Cardinals were busy bees in free agency and weren’t shy about spending money to upgrade the roster. When you consider the free agency pool was short on big names, you need to give more grace to the team. Plus, they got arguably the biggest name available with Josh Sweat.

As far as I’m concerned, Arizona did everything that was within their realm of possibilities.

VERDICT: BUY

TAKE: The in-house re-signings were all warranted and good decisions

The Cardinals not only brought in several outside names, but also made sure to retain the guys they valued most. Among those returning are Baron Browning and Evan Brown. Both players who will see a lot of playing time next season and could see several starts. Those two highlight what was a good effort from the front office to hold onto their most valuable players.

VERDICT: BUY

TAKE: Cardinals took care of all their in-house re-signings

Continuing on this point, I’m still dissatisfied with the contracts that have been handed out for in-house players. I’m not referring to the pending free agents; I’m looking at players in need of future deals, none more so than Trey McBride.

There’s still plenty of time to get his deal done, but that should’ve been one of the first moves made in my opinion. There’s other guys who will be in need of extensions within the next year or two as well, and I’d like to see them taken care of ASAP before the salary cap increases and the price on these players skyrockets… but as far as the immediate future is concerned, at least they’re taking care of for 2025.

They can kick the can down the road knowing they’re fine for the time being.

VERDICT: NEUTRAL; LEAN TOWARD SELL

TAKE: The front seven is fixed

We’re off to a good start for fixing and revamping a front seven that was desperate for upgrades across the board. But the job is not done; not even remotely close. Sweat and Dalvin Tomlinson will start out the gate as immediate upgrades, but the rest of the group largely remains the same, and that’s not entirely good news.

Arizona will be banking off the continued progression of players like Dante Stills and bounce backs from BJ Ojulari and Darius Robinson after injury-riddled seasons. It’s quite the gamble…

VERDICT: HARD SELL

TAKE: The secondary didn’t need any assets

In the modern NFL, where passing offenses dominate the league, you could never have too many good defensive backs. The Cardinals have no shortage of quality-to-above-average players at corner, safety, and nickel. It makes it much easier for the team to prioritize other positions this way.

There were more than a handful of budget DB's that were available and I’m bummed Arizona didn’t add a player at least somewhat notable - but it’s not the end of the world, and they can still add a guy in the draft.

VERDICT: SOFT SELL

TAKE: The run game can mask the passing attack

We’re all expecting the Cardinals to roll out a terrific run game in 2025 with the last two seasons, proving their capability to pound a football on the ground. They were a good unit last year, but it wasn’t enough. Looking at this team now, the offense remains largely the same ranging from the starters to the play callers.

It didn’t work a year ago and it’s not suddenly going to get better next season. Moves need to be made, or this offense will be stagnant once again.

VERDICT: SELL

TAKE: Jacoby Brissett is enough to push Kyler Murray

I was a big fan of the Cardinals decision to sign Brissett. He’s well traveled across the league with plenty of starts under his belt. Although he never was a Pro bowl-level player, and he never will be, he’s still good enough to start in a pinch.

Brissett will not threaten Murray as a starter out the gate, but he will force him to play at his peak unlike other options. If things go drastically south, at least the Cardinals know they have another option

VERDICT: SOFT BUY

TAKE: The Cardinals smartly added lighter resources to linebacker

The Cardinals don’t value the linebacker position, but they are still getting adequate play to get by. The exception has been Kyzir White, who’s been a stand out in his two years in the desert. He’s still a free agent, but Arizona signed Akeem Davis-Gaither And Mykal Walker as his replacement.

While I appreciate adding plenty of bodies to the room, White should have never left and no amount of new faces will replace what he’s been — especially considering the new guys are career backups/special teams players.

VERDICT: SELL

TAKE: The Cardinals are fine drafting a wide receiver and not signing one

The Cardinals needed depth and speed at the wide receiver position. They settled for a player who barely impacted the team a year ago… Not great, Bob! There’s a handful of players to fancy in this upcoming draft, but I would’ve preferred a budget receiver that fit the role of stretching the field.

Still, if they do their homework, they can get a guy in the draft to fill that hole. I just personally would’ve preferred it to have been taken care of in free agency.

VERDICT: SOFT SELL

TAKE: The Cardinals can focus on BPA in the 2025 NFL Draft

What’s your definition of best player available? Is it drafting the best player no matter what the position is or how deep you may be on your roster? Or is it finding the best player at a position of need to match the value of the pick’s worth? That’s what we will need to have answered during the 2025 NFL draft.

Arizona has no shortage of needs, including adding depth across the board, but that doesn’t mean they should bypass important positions simply to have a player rated higher on their board. Taking a top safety over a top edge rusher because they are slightly higher on your draft board would be a drastic mistake.

But with that said, the team meets upgrades for many positions, so as long as they approach it correctly, you can’t fault them for the BPA approach.

VERDICT: BUY WITH CAUTION