With the Super Bowl behind us, teams are forced to move on from the 2022 season and look towards 2023. In a series of articles, we’ll recap the season that was, and look at how teams are positioned at their skill positions for next September.
Arizona Cardinals
Projected Cap Space: 12.7 Million (per Spotrac)
Upcoming Draft Picks: Round 1 (3rd), Round 2 (34th), Round 3 (66th), Round 4 (105th), Round 5 (169th), Round 6 (180th)
The Arizona Cardinals are looking at yet another tumultuous offseason in 2023 after a disastrous 4-13 record in 2022. Kyler Murray missed 6 starts, but the team only went 3-8 with him in the lineup. Rumblings of his immaturity and contract stipulations dominated Cardinals headlines last offseason. Another disappointing campaign that ended with a major injury will only lead to more questions heading into 2023.
Coaching:
The Cardinals cleaned house in the coaching room, moving on from offensive minded head coach Kliff Kingsbury after a rollercoaster 4 seasons where they only had a winning record once and lost their only playoff game. The Cardinals are taking a different approach this year after signing former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to a 5 year deal.
Gannon led the Eagles to two consecutive top 10 finishes on the defensive side of the football, and had success as a defensive backs coach in Indianapolis prior to moving to Philadelphia. He’s young for a head coach, at only 40 years old, but enters his first head coaching role with 15 years of NFL experience.
Joining Gannon in Arizona is former Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing, who at only 35 years old, earns his biggest promotion with 10 years coaching experience. With the Browns quarterbacks not showing much success under Petzing, he must have impressed in his interviews and will be tasked with getting the shaky Cardinals offense back on track. His biggest challenge will be figuring out what to do at the quarterback position while Murray continues to recover from his torn ACL and meniscus.
The Cardinals coaching staff sticks with the youth movement by bringing in Gannon’s linebackers coach from Philadelphia Nick Rallis to be their defensive coordinator. Rallis is only 30 years old, and is officially the youngest coordinator in NFL history. After working under Gannon for the past 2 seasons, he must have made an impression on the new head coach, considering how despite the Eagles defense being one of the best in the league, it had very little to do with their linebacking group. There will be plenty of pressure on Rallis, and this young coaching staff as a whole, to prove they’re worthy of their new positions.
Quarterback:
Starting quarterback Kyler Murray signed a 5 year $230.5 million contract in July of 2022. Things have not gone well since then.
Last offseason was riddled with rumors of the contract containing clauses requiring Murray to do more film study and work off the field. Management half heartedly retracted these demands and defended Murray, but his play on the field didn’t warrant the massive extension he signed.
While the team has cap space this offseason, Murray will enter 2024 with a $51 million dollar cap hit, and his play on and off the field needs to improve to justify the Cardinals spending a massive percentage of their salary cap on what to this point is an unproven quarterback. He’ll also be out for what looks like at least half of the 2023 season while he recovers from injury. Colt McCoy is signed for another year at $5 million, which is important as he will likely be tasked with running the offense until the Cardinals hand the reins back over to Murray.
The Cardinals hold the 3rd overall pick, but are unlikely to cut ties with Murray before the extension kicks in, and are likely to bring in another veteran to back up McCoy until Murray is able to retake the number one job.
Wide Receiver/Tight End:
Cardinals fans have had the pleasure of watching DeAndre Hopkins dominate matchups against cornerbacks for 2 full seasons, before missing half of the 2022 campaign due to suspension. All signs point to him being another Cardinals cap casualty this offseason, as he is due over $55 million over the next two years.
The Cardinals will likely roll into 2023 with Marquise Brown and Robbie Anderson as their top two targets. Anderson was almost invisible in 2022 after coming over in a midseason trade with the Panthers. As he enters his 30s this year, it’s unlikely he’ll become a true threat in the Cardinals offense.
Marquise Brown dealt with injuries throughout 2022, missing 5 games in the middle of the season, but was a target favourite for Murray when both were healthy. There are serious doubts that he can operate as a true number one receiver for an offense, meaning he’ll enter the final year of his contract with a lot to prove.
Rondale Moore also dealt with injuries throughout the season, managing to only suit up for 8 games in 2022. The 22 year old has a ton of athletic ability, and if he can stay healthy, has a clear path to working his way into becoming a crucial part of the Cardinals offense. Greg Dortch impressed in spurts, but the Cardinals will have to work out a contract extension with the pending RFA before including him in the offensive game plan. Arizona has some nice depth pieces in the wide receiver room, but are severely lacking the top end talent that’s required to compete in today’s NFL.
At tight end, former Eagle Zach Ertz will continue to fight father time and return as the TE1 in Arizona with 2 more years left on his contract. He’s productive in a smaller role, and can still move the chains on key third downs, but there’s no doubt that at 32 years old his best years are behind him. Blocking tight end Trey McBride will also be back, while once coveted prospect Maxx Williams will be looking for work elsewhere as a UFA after a disappointing 4 year stretch in Arizona. Much like the wide receiver group, the tight end position has some nice complementary pieces, but lacks the talent to really elevate the offense.
Running Backs:
Veteran running back James Conner looks to be the leader of an uninspiring running back room for 2023. While productive in the redzone, Conner has the ability to finish off drives. However, not many defenses are trembling in fear ahead of a matchup against the 27 year old. He’s lost a step as the years have gone on, and would be best served as a short yardage back with limited touches.
Unfortunately there aren’t many other options for Arizona. Keaontay Ingram and Ty’son Williams are the only returning backs for the Cardinals. While they are both young, and have some explosive ability, neither projects to be a true number one back in the NFL.
Offensive Line:
Veteran center Rodney Hudson missed all but the first 4 games of the season and is dealing with a recurring knee injury. At 33 years old, there are real concerns about his ability to make it back to the elite starting position he once held. Billy Price was thrown in to try and hold down the center position, but is entering 2023 as a UFA.
DJ Humphries will be back at left tackle with 3 more years left on his contract, but he as well was forced onto the injured reserve with a back injury in November of 2022. 25 year old Josh Jones and 24 year old Lecitus Smith are the only other returning lineman who played any significant number of snaps last year, so this unit as a whole will be losing the majority of their starters. They’ll also be relying on unproven young players and returning injured veterans to protect whoever takes snaps under centre in 2023. This has a real possibility of being the worst line in all of football next year.
Defense:
With future NFL hall of famer JJ Watt announcing his retirement the Cardinals are losing a key leader on defense, which will no doubt weaken the defensive line as a whole. This will at least create more opportunity for young lineman like DE Cameron Thomas and Myjai Sanders to continue to increase their snap counts in 2023.
At linebacker, the development of 2020 8th overall pick Isaiah Simmons will be key to a defense that lacks overall playmakers. He increased his snaps per game weekly throughout 2022 and will need to showcase the elite talent that made him such a high draft pick. Marcus Golden also has the talent to increase his mid tier rating as a pass rushing linebacker, and will look to take on a larger role as well. Buddah Baker, one of the top safeties in the league will be back and take on even more of a leadership role as he tries to improve on an awful pass defense. Much like the rest of the team, the defense has some pieces but needs more depth to put it all together.
The Cardinals are likely in for a long, tough season. The roster construction as a whole leaves much to be desired. Now that the squad is on its last season of the cushy rookie quarterback contract, it’s hard to see how they’ll have the financial flexibility in the future to bring in the pieces required to make this team relevant again.
The hiring of a young, inexperienced coaching staff was a bold route to take by Cardinals management, and they had better hope they’re able to bring the best out of each and every player on the roster because it’s unlikely they will be able to afford to bring in any top end free agents for years to come.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.