Cardinals' Biggest Roster Hole Isn't What People Think

The Arizona Cardinals, like any other team in the NFL, have holes on their roster entering the 2026 offseason.

Some more noticable than others.

After events in free agency and the draft, the Cardinals feel good about their overall depth on the roster. However, there's still a few areas that need to be addressed.

The national media typically doesn't do a great job of really paying attention to the Cardinals, and ESPN's latest piece going through each team's roster holes displayed just that.

Aaron Schatz believes Arizona's biggest hole is at wide receiver:

What ESPN Said

"My first suggestion was going to be center, but while Hjalte Froholdt was poor in pass block win rate (93.9%) last season, he was excellent in run block win rate (74.1%). Instead, let's look at the wide receiver depth chart.

"Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson are the top two here, but it will be interesting to see how much Kendrick Bourne can bring as a third option. He managed to make 37 catches for 551 yards last season in San Francisco, but he is 30. Then depth behind these three is an issue. Devin Duvernay is primarily a return specialist, Xavier Weaver had only seven catches in 2025, and players such as Andre Baccellia and Simi Fehoko have been bouncing between the practice squad and the roster for years. The Cardinals also have fifth-round rookie Reggie Virgil."

Why They Couldn't Be More Wrong

You'll be very hard-pressed to find any NFL team that's four-deep at receiver, so highlighting the depth behind Harrison/Wilson/Bourne was a bit off. With 11 personnel being the most-used package through the NFL (with some teams shifting towards less WR and more TE usage), the Cardinals won't find themselves in predicaments where they'll see 4 WR sets.

Unproven? You could make the argument, as Wilson is coming off just one season of production, Harrison has largely been up and down while Bourne is a fine free agent add for what his projected role will be.

The biggest hole on the roster resides at either right tackle, quarterback or edge rusher.

The Cardinals don't have a clear answer at quarterback for the future, though third-round pick Carson Beck might just fill those shoes. Arizona signed a few offensive lineman in free agency with Elijah Wilkinson emerging as the expected starter at right tackle, which is undoubtedly the weakest spot along the offensive line at the moment.

Edge rusher probably gets the nod for biggest roster hole here, as the Cardinals' pass rush again was lackluster in 2025.

What happened this offseason? The Cardinals lost Calais Campbell's 6.5 sacks (though he was on the defensive line) and didn't add any free agents or draft picks to an edge rusher's room that, outside of Josh Sweat, saw all of Jordan Burch, Zaven Collins, BJ Ojulari and Baron Browning combine for 5.5 sacks.

Arizona wasn't able to address every opening roster, but such is life. With that understood, places such as outside linebacker and right tackle are far and away bigger holes on the roster than wide receiver.