Arizona Cardinals Disrespected in Offseason Grades

The Arizona Cardinals took the offseason by storm this year, adding as much as they could to boost a defensive front that was in dire need of reinforcement. But for one outlet, it wasn't enough to give them high praise.

GM Monti Ossenfort made calculated moves, bringing in relatively expensive free agents, but also supplementing the roster with depth and young players in the NFL draft.

The Cardinals may not be in talks to make the Super Bowl, or anything similar, but there is growing and resounding optimism that this team has begun to build itself up the right way and should be one of the teams looking to contend for a playoff berth in 2025.

Arizona Cardinals Given Surprising Offseason Rank, Grade

Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab ranked the Cardinals 19th in his offseason power rankings. He gave them a "B" grade for an offseason that saw numerous premier additions and two highly-touted draft prospects.

"The Cardinals had an improvement on defense last season and then invested heavily in that side of the ball this offseason. Pass rusher Josh Sweat got $76.4 million over four years to leave the Eagles, and big defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson got $29 million over two years.

"Linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither was also added (he'll replace Kyzir White, who was not re-signed), and ageless defensive lineman Calais Campbell is back. In the draft, the Cardinals picked defensive tackle Walter Nolen in the first round and when cornerback Will [Johnson] slipped to the second round due to concerns over injuries, the Cardinals took the value.

"Both players have some risk but there's a lot of upside. Both should be rookie starters. The Cardinals' first five picks, and six of their seven overall, were on defense. The offense didn't get much attention, but the defense has all the pieces it needs for a dramatic improvement. And it wasn't that bad last season," Schwab wrote.

Perhaps it's fair to hold off on intense praise until the product meets the field. But to pretend that the Cardinals' offseason does not at least put them closer to the upper half of the NFL feels like a lazy take, based more on last year's record than any sort of eye test or statistical analysis.

There is, of course, a chance Ossenfort's approach collapses and the Cardinals regress. That is always a present risk.

But objectively, it's hard to rank the Cardinals in the "well-below-average" category after seeing what they've done this offseason.

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