NFL Execs Believe Cardinals Could Make Playoffs Next Season
ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals have some serious potential moving into 2024 despite finishing with a 4-13 record this past season.
You'll hear that from fans, who are excited about the full (and healthy) return of quarterback Kyler Murray.
You'll hear it in the media, too, as there's not much to hate when you look at Arizona's plethora of cap space and draft ammo in the coming months.
You'll also hear the above points from anonymous NFL executives who spoke to ESPN - as prominent people around the league believe Arizona could make a postseason push next year.
From Jeremy Fowler:
"Arizona is trending up despite its 4-13 clip in 2023. As one NFL offensive coach said, 'That's the best four-win team I've seen in a while. They make you earn everything.'
"GM Monti Ossenfort has six picks in the first three rounds of the draft to improve the roster.
"'[Head coach Jonathan Gannon] seems legit, and they can kill it in the draft,' an AFC scout said. 'If they add some vet pieces in free agency, they can surprise some people. Kyler Murray will be better with a full year coming off the ACL [tear].'"
The Cardinals suffered a barrage of injuries on both sides of the ball through the season yet remained competitive despite trimming the roster drastically and executing the first - and toughest - year of a rebuild.
Gannon himself certainly believes the Cardinals can build on their momentum:
"I think that Monti has done a fantastic job of the acquisition periods (from) this last year in 2023 and bringing in guys that we see fit to be Cardinals. Not to say you don’t make mistakes, but we hit on a lot of those guys," Gannon said at his end of season press conference.
"That’s what we told the rookies too, today, because there’s going to be another group that’s injected into this team that now they kind of have to show the way. When a guy gets out of alignment, you’ve got to bring them back into alignment, but the rookie class I can’t say enough about those guys. Some guys that we brought in, not just at draft time but in September or December they hit the price of admission for those guys as team and then you. I think that when you do that and continually add those pieces and the coaches improve and the players improve, you’ve got a chance.”
The Cardinals might just be a good bet to be an under the radar squad heading into next season despite a tough division and expected continuation of their youth movement.
