National Outlets Not Impressed With Cardinals' Free Agency

The big wave of free agency frenzy is over, and the Arizona Cardinals have mixed opinions on exactly how they fared.

The Cardinals entered this offseason with some of the most cap space available in the league with new head coach Mike LaFleur at the helm and a void to fill at quarterback.

And as the dust settles on Arizona's free agent period, the Cardinals have seen a few upgrades, notably on the offensive side of the ball.

How's the national media grade Arizona's body of work? According to two outlets, they barely pass:

CBS Sports: C

Garrett Podell: "The Arizona Cardinals have entered the 2027 NFL Draft tank race. With a new head coach in Mike LaFleur and allowing Kyler Murray to walk on over to the Minnesota Vikings, the Cardinals essentially declared they would be running it back with Jacoby Brissett. In 2025, his overall stats were solid (3,377 passing yards, the second most in the NFL from the time he became a starter in Week 6 to the end of the season), but they were empty calories, with the majority of production occurring with the game out of reach.

"... The reason Arizona earns a passing grade here is because they added steady veterans such as Isaac Seumalo and Tyler Allgeier. Seumalo, who the Cardinals reeled in on a three-year, $31 million deal, was the best move the franchise made. He ranked third in ESPN's pass block win rate metric among interior offensive linemen last season at 97%, and he ranked fourth in ESPN's run block win rate among interior offensive linemen last season at 77%. He and Chicago Bears All-Pro Joe Thuney, who won the inaugural Protector of the Year award, were the only interior offensive linemen to rank top five in both metrics."

Our take: Podell isn't the only one who believes the Cardinals are tanking, though there wasn't really a great avenue at quarterback this postseason in a post-Murray era. Such is life when you rip the band-aid off. Seumalo and Allgeier were quality signings, though this roster clearly has more work left to be done. That will happen in the draft, where general manager Monti Ossenfort prefers to build anyways.

Pro Football Focus: C+

Gordon McGuinness on Tyler Allgeier: "While he's unlikely to be a workhorse, Allgeier has consistently been solid since arriving in the NFL out of BYU in 2022. He has never fumbled on a rushing attempt while averaging 3.27 yards after contact per carry. Signing him doesn't take the Cardinals out of the running to draft Notre Dame‘s Jeremiyah Love with the third overall pick in the draft, either, as Allgeier has already shown he can spell a top draft pick in Bijan Robinson in Atlanta."

Our take: PFF went through a few different contracts such as Allgeier, Andrew Wingard, Isaac Seumalo and Kendrick Bourne graded all of the above as average or above average signings in terms of contracts. The Cardinals by no means had a eye-opening offseason in terms of spending, but rather their goal of building depth was apparent.

Unless the Cardinals were going to land Malik Willis, it never felt like they were going to "win" the offseason in the eyes of national people.