The Arizona Cardinals didn’t spend this offseason trying to win the headlines. They spent it trying to stop the slide.
That’s the reality after a 3-14 season in 2025, one that began with two wins and then unraveled fast. Arizona responded by moving on from head coach Jonathan Gannon and franchise quarterback Kyler Murray, choosing a reset after a year that was supposed to point toward playoff football and instead went nowhere.
The Athletic even slotted the Cardinals among the offseason’s clear losers, with Mike Jones writing, “At 3-14, the Cardinals already had a low floor, but they actually might be worse after this offseason,”
Jones also pointed to the risks around the new coaching setup: “The team has several big question marks hanging over the coaching staff after taking a large gamble on first-time head coach Mike LaFleur, who struggled in his lone stint as a play caller with the Jets and revived his reputation by working under McVay for three seasons with the Rams. LaFleur hired Nathaniel Hackett as his offensive coordinator, despite Hackett’s struggles as head coach with the Broncos and as offensive coordinator with the Jets.
“Arizona parted with the talented yet oft-injured Kyler Murray and opted against upgrading its quarterback position. Veteran Jacoby Brissett, who went 1-11 as the Cardinals’ starter last season, held out for much of the offseason. Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, the No. 3 pick in the draft, represents the main bright spot in an offseason of conservative moves.”
There’s no easy way to spin a three-win team into something it isn’t. The NFL doesn’t have massive talent gaps from one roster to the next, but that doesn’t mean a team coming off this kind of season is one move away from the playoffs.
Injuries did play a part in Arizona’s 2025 collapse, and that matters. Still, even a healthier version of this team might have been staring at the same problems.
Gannon’s firing came despite strong support inside the locker room. He helped reshape the culture in Arizona, and that’s worth acknowledging. But when a team drops 14 of its final 15 games, it becomes hard to imagine that coach sticking around.
Murray’s seven-year run was a different kind of tough call. It was too uneven, too stop-and-start, to justify carrying him into a third coaching staff. The Cardinals ripped off the band-aid, and while that hurt, it was the right move for the bigger picture.
That’s the part of this offseason that makes sense. Arizona won only 15 games over the last three seasons, so this wasn’t some reckless teardown of a contender. It was a team accepting what it had become.
Believing that an eighth season with Murray would suddenly fix everything would have been wishful thinking. The same goes for expecting Gannon’s fourth year to produce a breakthrough.
Nobody in the NFL can afford to treat a season like a placeholder, but Arizona also isn’t in a spot where it should be pretending 2027 is the urgent issue. The more practical goal is building something sturdier for what comes next.
That’s why the moves made this offseason leaned toward the future. The Cardinals are betting on LaFleur and whatever upside he can bring as the next offensive mind to watch.
There wasn’t much flash here, and that was the point. Arizona chose the hard reset, took the boring route, and ate its vegetables this offseason. It wasn’t pretty, but it was necessary.
In Other News...
Cardinals Suddenly Face A Tough Call With High Priced Pass Rusher
The Bears spent the offseason patching holes with additions like safety Coby Bryant, linebacker Devin Bush and wide receiver Kalif Raymond, but the pass rush still looks like a spot where help could be needed before the 2026 season. That has put Arizona in the discussion by proxy, since one of the Cardinals pricier edge rushers has surfaced as a possible fit for Chicago in a third-party trade idea.
It is an intriguing sort of speculation for Arizona because it turns a high-priced defensive piece into a potential offseason talking point instead of just a roster staple. The player in question is on a four-year, $76 million deal and just finished a full 17-game season with 30 tackles, 12 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, which is exactly the kind of production that can make outside teams start wondering whether a deal might be possible if the right market develops. [Read more 🡒]
Carson Beck Is Already Facing The Cardinals Question That Matters Most
Carson Beck has spent the early part of his Cardinals stint doing what young quarterbacks are supposed to do: absorbing the offense, leaning on the coaching staff and stacking days of work in a system that can feel like a moving target for any rookie. The third-round pick has been in close contact with Matt Schaub and Nathaniel Hackett while also taking in whatever he can from veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett, the kind of early classroom time Arizona hopes will speed up his development.
The wrinkle is that the bridge between the rookie and the veteran has not been as full as the Cardinals might like. Beck has said he has not spent much time with Brissett, who skipped voluntary OTAs while pursuing a contract adjustment, leaving Arizona with a familiar camp question for a quarterback room: how much can a young passer pick up when one of the key voices around him is only around part of the time? [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans May Finally See A Real End To The Purgatory
Arizona has spent plenty of time stuck in the same loop, with enough offensive talent and coaching pedigree to hint at progress, only to run into the same old issues when the games start counting. The setup around this group still looks familiar: there is a capable offensive mind in the building, a scheme background tied to the Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan tree, and at least enough structure on offense to avoid total collapse. Even so, the bigger questions remain the ones that have dogged the franchise for years, especially at quarterback, along the defensive front, and with a schedule that does not appear to offer much relief.
Jacoby Brissett can keep the offense functional and maybe help Arizona steal a few wins, but the larger picture is why some around the team are already looking past 2026. If the season goes the way plenty of skeptics expect, the Cardinals could end up in position to make a major swing in the 2027 offseason, when the draft is expected to offer a chance at a true long-term answer under center. For a fan base that has watched too many false starts, that is the kind of opening that starts to feel less like hope and more like an actual path out. [Read more 🡒]