Arizona Cardinals Took Massive Risk With Offseason Strategy

Few teams went into the offseason and did more work to improve their defense than the Arizona Cardinals did. A unit that overachieved based on their personnel still needed upgrades to all three levels of the defense, and the Cardinals did exactly that.

Among their biggest moves were free agent signings of Josh Sweat, Calais Campbell, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Akeem Davis-Gaither. The Cardinals also spent six of their seven draft picks from the 2025 NFL Draft on defense, highlighted by first-rounder Walter Nolen and second-rounder Will Johnson.

Those investments joined a roster that already had some good-to-great players like Garrett Williams and Budda Baker. Overlooked, and even some underrated studs like Mack Wilson, Dante Stills, Baron Browning, Max Melton, Starling Thomas V, and Jalen Thompson are also present, as is last year's first-round pick Darius Robinson who missed most of the 2024 season for varying reasons.

Arizona Cardinals Hope Defensive-Heavy Approach Works

All of this is to say the unit got completely revamped for year three under Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis. The hope is these investments work out.

In an article by Bleacher Report discussing the best and worst-case scenarios for all 32 defenses in the league, Alex Ballentine gave his take for the Cardinals, starting with the best-case scenario, which he highlights as Arizona's investment into its defensive line will transform the defense:

"Every front office sends a message with their moves in the offseason. In the Cardinals' case that message was: We're done having a below-average defensive line."

Ballentine goes on to highlight the moves for Sweat, Campbell, and Tomlinson through free agency along with the selections of Nolen and Jordan Burch for the third round of the draft. Browning was noted, too.

"Jonathan Gannon knows from his brief stint as the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator how much a stacked defensive line can mean for a defense. If this huge investment pays immediate dividends, it could reshape the entire narrative around the Cardinals' defense.

"Assuming the veterans can help bring younger players such as Nolen, Burch and Darius Robinson up to speed, Arizona could become one of the league's up-and-coming units."

On the flipside, Ballentine mentions the worst-case scenario would be that their supposed "risks" don't work out:

"The Cardinals certainly didn't play it safe with a lot of their acquisitions this offseason. There's a risk profile to consider for several of their draft picks and free-agency pickups."

In his arguments, Ballentine highlights maturity as an issue for Nolen and called Johnson a "boom-or-bust" prospect due to injuries.

The addition of Sweat was criticized and noted he "hasn't always looked like a number one pass rusher," and Campbell and Tomlinson are aging.

"There are a lot of players who give this defense a huge range of outcomes. Some are much uglier than others."

All of these are valid points, but I have credited the Cardinals' front office for making so many investments in treating the defensive side of the football and that's exactly what they did. Until proven otherwise, I believe that the right moves were made to significantly improve the unit.

I would agree with Ballentine that there is plenty of risk here, and that multiple failures could cost the season defensively; that much feels undebatable.

We shall see how the results play out, but Ballentine and I can agree that great investments were made and if they hit it could change the look of this defense. If not, then we could see them tumble down into mediocrity (at best).

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