Three Takeaways From Cardinals' Free Agency

The Arizona Cardinals and GM Monti Ossenfort have delivered an exciting offseason thus far — to say the least. Marquee additions have been made to the weakest unit on the team, without compromising much in terms of payroll flexibility or draft capital.

With the draft looming, here are three takeaways from Ossenfort and the Cardinals' approach to the first wave of free agency:

1: The Cardinals Are All-In Financially

Internet narratives are a humorous thing. Just hours into free agency beginning, there was talk that Ossenfort, owner Michael Bidwill and the Cardinals "weren't willing to spend."

Since that brief talking point emerged, Ossenfort dropped $76.4 million on four years of EDGE Josh Sweat, a potential $29 million on DT Dalvin Tomlinson, and a large number of more team-friendly contracts to retain in-house players.

He had already inked both RB James Conner and S Budda Baker to lucrative extensions, and followed up his external free agency signings by making TE Trey McBride the highest-paid tight end in NFL history, similarly giving him $76 million over four years.

The Cardinals are not, and have not been "afraid to spend" on free agents or their own players. The time was simply not right to dump those assets. Timing is everything; the time is now, and Ossenfort and Bidwill have done just what they should do — invest in both external talent and your own budding stars.

2: The Cardinals Value Familiarity

Looking at the free agency additions to this roster, there's a notable trend. At some level, somewhere, there is organizational or relational familiarity between each of the notable acquisitions.

For Sweat, he had his most productive season under Jonathan Gannon in 2022 with 11 sacks and 15 TFLs. New backup QB Jacoby Brissett was coached by Drew Petzing in Cleveland in 2022, and while Tomlinson didn't overlap with Petzing as a Brown, there's still somewhat of a connection.

Even Calais Campbell, who might not have been a disciple of Gannon, Rallis or Petzing, is at least familiar with the Cardinals' organization. He might even have a better relationship with Arizona now, uner a new regime.

The Cardinals haven't exactly limited themselves to "guys they know," but it's clear that they are focused more on bringing in the right players and the right people, rather than simply dumping contracts into the best (on paper) free agents.

Thankfully for Ossenfort, those two things have overlapped somewhat this offseason - especially with Sweat.

1: The Cardinals Are Not One-Dimensional

One-dimensional offensively? Maybe. But Arizona's approach to adding talent in the current offseason has been anything but shallow.

Not only has Ossenfort spent big, he also hasn't shied away from players in the upper end of their careers. Tomlinson is 31, Campbell is 38, and even Sweat is more of a veteran than a budding young player.

There's still plenty to develop, and plenty of young talent on this team. There's also a whole rookie class waiting to be introduced come the NFL Draft in late April. But Ossenfort has balanced paying to retain younger, growing players with adding somewhat expensive veteran talent, even if they're on the north side of 30.

There are pros and cons to both. But the Cardinals had shown a complete lack of interest in paying or obtaining older players in the past, and that has flipped so far this offseason.

A good blend of young, developmental players, along with some proficient, high-motor veterans to lead the locker room is a good cocktail to mix, and Ossenfort has at attempted to walk that line to apparent success, though there's no guarantee of results, yet.