The Arizona Cardinals spent the offseason making hard choices, and the biggest wins may be the mistakes they didn’t make.
After the 2025 season, the organization hit reset at major spots, including head coach and quarterback, with an eye on a better future. That kind of overhaul always comes with risk, but Arizona also steered clear of a few moves that could have made things worse.
The first was moving on from Kyler Murray. That decision was about the bigger picture, not just the player himself.
Murray lasted seven years in Arizona and never became a winning quarterback there. The reasons can be argued for a long time, but the reality is that most quarterbacks don’t make it through two coaching staff changes, and Murray wasn’t the exception.
A split made sense for both sides. He gets a chance to try to unlock that obvious talent elsewhere, now with Minnesota, while the Cardinals can finally move ahead from a situation that had become murky at the game’s most important position.
It wasn’t an easy call, but it was one the team needed to make. Keeping him would have only pushed the inevitable down the road.
Arizona also avoided jumping into the Malik Willis market. Early signs pointed to Willis as a strong fit, and his work stepping in for Jordan Love in Green Bay made him one of the league’s more intriguing backup quarterbacks.
The Cardinals were linked to him, but reports said they never moved off a certain price, and Willis eventually signed a three-year, $67.5 million deal with the Miami Dolphins. Fans were frustrated, but the logic was there.
Willis comes with limitations and a small sample size, and spending heavily at quarterback when Jacoby Brissett was already in place didn’t line up. Arizona wasn’t built to contend this season anyway, and paying up for Willis would have been a bad bet in the short term and a worse one if it dragged the team out of range for a top pick in 2027.
Then there was the draft, where the Cardinals had the third overall pick in what was viewed as a weaker class near the top. After missing out on Fernando Mendoza and David Bailey, they had a few directions to choose from and landed on Jeremiyah Love. Taking a running back at No. 3 drew plenty of criticism because of the roster’s current shape, but Arizona took the player many considered the best in the draft.
That fit with GM Monti Ossenfort’s approach. He’s taken heat for plenty of decisions, and not always unfairly, but he has stayed committed to drafting the best player available no matter where Arizona is picking.
This year’s pool offered options such as Arvell Reese at No. 5 and Rueben Bain at No. 15, but each came with enough questions to make Love the cleaner choice at No. 3.
There will always be hindsight. Someone selected after Arizona could turn into one of the league’s best players.
That’s the nature of the draft. But in the moment, the Cardinals made the right call - even if plenty of people outside the building didn’t like it.
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