ARIZONA CARDINALS

OFF SEASON CHANGES

Arizona hit the reset button across the entire organization: firing head coach Jonathan Gannon, hiring Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, and releasing Kyler Murray outright without receiving any real draft compensation despite owing him more than $78 million. The front office then drew national criticism for selecting running back Jeremiyah Love with the third overall pick in this year's draft. They’ll likely ease him into the offense this season, but I don’t see why they don’t unleash him with not much to lose. They also signed RB Tyler Allgeier to provide support for Love.

QUARTERBACKS

It looks like Jacoby Brissett will start the season at quarterback and I think that’s the right decision. The Cardinals also have veteran Gardner Minshew and third-round draftee Carson Beck, but Brissett is the right man to start the season at least. They reached agreement on a reworked contract that will pay him $15.5 million guaranteed this season with the chance to make $21 million with incentives. That shows they’re committed to him for the season I believe. Brissett can sling the ball and had some very impressive performances last season including a 452-yard game against the 49ers (although they lost comfortably). Brissett was 22nd among qualified quarterbacks in EPA per play last season filling in for an injured Murray. He probably remains around that mark this season, if not a little higher with some genuinely good offensive weapons around him.

RUNNING BACKS

Jeremiyah Love, the third overall pick, was the best running back in this class and should become the offensive centerpiece. However, they’ve been putting the brakes on him through training camp and not talking him up too much. Head coach Mike LaFleur said recently ‘He’s definitely a rookie.’ Which doesn’t fill you with confidence that he’s going to get a big workload immediately. The Cardinals also signed Tyler Allgeier from the Falcons and they still have veteran James Conner although he is injured at the moment.

RECEIVERS

Trey McBride was one of the few bright spots on a lost 2025 season, finishing second in the NFL in receptions (126) and sixth in yards (1,239), an elite, top-of-the-league tight end by any measure. Marvin Harrison Jr. enters a pivotal Year 3 after an injury-interrupted 2025. There were some worrying signs from training camp with him dropping the ball, but who knows how much we can read into that. Michael Wilson's strong finish to 2025 gives this receiving corps real complementary pieces around McBride. They're likely to throw the ball a lot this season as I expect them to be trailing in most games.

DEFENSE

Arizona finished 27th in yards allowed per play, 27th in pressure rate, and 28th in sack rate last year but they retained defensive coordinator Nick Rallis while pivoting to an offensive-minded head coach in LaFleur. Josh Sweat's productive first season (12 sacks) is a real building block, but this unit remains a genuine weakness that this offseason did little to directly address beyond internal development.