Arizona Cardinals' Nightmare Scenario Revealed

The Arizona Cardinals could go in multiple directions in the 2025 season. Of course, ideally, they'll contend for a playoff spot and see the rewards of their offseason efforts come to full fruition.

But there lies a possibility that the Cardinals have done all of this for nothing.

It doesn't seem likely at this point that they'll fall back into irrelevance, but there's no way to truly guarantee that all the players they've invested in — both in free agency and the draft — will take form as the stars Arizona hopes they'll become.

One outlet explored just what it might look like if the Cardinals' 2025 season doesn't measure up to expectations.

Arizona Cardinals' Nightmare Scenario Revealed

Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab examined what the "nightmare" scenario may look like for the Cardinals. Surprisingly enough, he expressed confidence that Arizona can stay out of the basement, despite not giving them much credit for their offseason investments earlier in his article.

"The Cardinals probably aren't going to be one of the NFL's worst teams. The improvements to the roster, especially on the offensive and defensive lines, provide a steady floor. But that doesn't mean there's a big step forward coming either. Maybe the Cardinals are just going to be stuck in the middle. They have won just one division title since 2009, and that was 10 years ago.

"They have one playoff win since Kurt Warner retired. Maybe the new pieces don't fit great on defense, Marvin Harrison Jr. has another year of being good but nowhere near great, James Conner's workload catches up to him and Kyler Murray is average again. A year of stagnation, particularly with Murray, would bring on the realization that the Cardinals aren't getting out of their rut anytime soon," Scwab wrote.

This speaks to just what the Cardinals have been able to do under GM Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon: raise the floor of this team.

While there's no way to guarantee Arizona will be winning 10-plus games and fighting for a Lombardi trophy, even the most "nightmare" situation for the Cardinals seems to simply involve falling back into mediocrity.

As disheartening as that would be, it does provide some hope that the Cardinals are beyond the days of four-win, laughing-stock seasons. But there's plenty of road ahead before they can crack their way into the top end of the NFL.

Much is riding on this season.

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