The Arizona Cardinals’ offseason drew a harsh verdict from NFL.com’s Matt Okada, who handed them a D-minus in his grades for all 32 NFL teams.
Okada said the grade was driven largely by his dislike of Arizona’s most notable move. In his view, teams coming off 3-14 seasons should not draft running backs, even ones as talented as Love.
He acknowledged Love could be one of the league’s best backs from Day 1 in Arizona, but argued the position carries limited franchise value and a short shelf life. He pointed to Saquon Barkley as an example, noting that Barkley was excellent after going second overall and that the Giants still never won the division during his six-year tenure.
Arizona also took heat for its handling of quarterback. Okada wrote that the Cardinals released Kyler Murray and did almost nothing to address the position for now or later, “unless you love 24-year-old rookie Carson Beck.” He also said the team’s most notable free-agent addition was Seumalo.
There was some room for optimism in the draft, at least in Okada’s view. He said OG Chase Bisontis, taken 34th overall, and DT Kaleb Proctor, selected 104th, could turn out to be useful values. Even so, he added that the Cardinals remain far from seeing those picks turn into wins.
Okada also pushed back on the idea that Love was an obvious mistake, at least from a pure value standpoint. The alternatives, he wrote, were other players at non-premium positions. He mentioned Arvell Reese as a possible EDGE option, but said it was understandable if Arizona did not view him as a true edge rusher and instead saw him more as a pass-rushing off-ball player.
The rest of the offseason, though, drew little praise. Okada said the Cardinals were desperate to move on from Murray even though he would have been their best option for 2026. Instead, Arizona is left with a contract dispute involving journeyman Jacoby Brissett, another journeyman in Gardner Minshew, and Beck, a third-round rookie.
He also noted that the Cardinals did nothing to improve what may have been their weakest area: the pass rush.
Arizona did add some depth and has skill players that look solid, but Okada’s bottom line was blunt: if the defense still isn’t good and the quarterback situation still isn’t good, have they really improved?
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