Debating ESPN's Off-Season Report Card for the Arizona Cardinals
By Walter Mitchell
Seth Walder of ESPN has just posted his 2026 NFL Off-Season report cards. In his estimation the Arizona Cardinals had the worst off-season in the entire NFL.
Arizona Cardinals: D
Biggest move: Releasing QB Kyler Murray
Move I liked: Signing G Isaac Seumalo
Move I disliked: Drafting RB Jeremiyah Love at No. 3
The Cardinals entered this offseason in a rough position and erred on two critical decisions that could determine the future of the franchise.
First, Arizona opted to release Murray. Did it really need to? Murray was due more $78 million over the next two years, which would have been guaranteed had he remained on the roster on March 15. That was more than any team would have wanted to take on for him. But what if Arizona had paid his $17 million roster bonus and then traded him? The Cardinals could have even converted some of his salary into a signing bonus. They could have received draft pick compensation for Murray while paying him, say, $20 million this year to not play for them. Or even $30 million!
Yes, Seth, the Cardinals had to move on from Kyler Murray for a plethora of reasons, perhaps the most telling of which was how Jacoby Brissett blew Kyler out of the water in the way he orchestrated the team's passing game, in terms of weekly preparation and in forming a stunning syncopation with Michael Wilson and Trey McBride with whom he developed into the NFL's #1 most productive WR/TE tandem with 2,245 yards and 18 TDs --- accomplishing this in just 12 starts --- and at the same time --- earning the trust and confidence of the locker room.
In the words of Cardinals' center Hjalte Froholdt this off-season:
"He's a veteran, he knows his shit, he stands in the pocket, he takes a hit and he plays for the boys. He ain't no backup."
One other salient reason: In his 7 years with the Cardinals. Kyler Murray, due to injuries and subpar post October play, never finished a single season on a high note.
Instead, the Cardinals released the quarterback, will pay him $35.5 million to not play for them and didn't receive any compensation. Perhaps no team wanted to bite on option A. But if that's the case, was it worth cutting Murray? If the $35.5 million was sunk cost, all the Cardinals would be signing up for by keeping him was a league minimum salary in 2026 and $19.5 million fully guaranteed in 2027 (he'd have been owed another $17 million or so if they wanted to keep him for 2027). Surely Murray was worth that.
No team did want to bite on option A, albeit in a QB starved league. No other team believed Kyler Murray was worth what you believe he is. Furthermore, once Kyler became a free agent, interested teams could have made him an attractive new contract offer and yet he is now playing on a one-year veteran minimum salary with the Vikings.
After releasing Murray, the Cardinals signed Gardner Minshew II, who is essentially redundant when paired with returning quarterback Jacoby Brissett (who is disgruntled with his contract). But they did draft Carson Beck, who at least presents some long-term upside, in the third round.
The Gardner Minshew contract is redundant, just as you say. Monti Ossenfort's handling of QBs since he arrived as GM has turned the Cardinals into the NFC version of the Cleveland Browns. His current handling of Jacoby Brissett, the one unifying force at QB Ossenfort has signed is a further testament to his poor judgment and lack of prescience. Carson Beck will likely get his chance to make his case as QBOF at some point this season.
While their Murray process was not ideal, what the Cardinals did in the first round of the draft -- selecting Love with the No. 3 pick -- was a much easier mistake to avoid.
Let me be clear -- Love is an exceptional running back prospect. But to take any running back at No. 3 flies in the face of positional value, or lack thereof. The running back position doesn't move the needle all that much. Even when running backs do hit early in the draft, they deliver less surplus value than other positions (because they are otherwise so cheap to sign and therefore immediately expensive even on rookie deals), and the opportunity cost of finding an elite player at a position you can't land in free agency (like offensive tackle) is substantial.
You are missing the fact that Jeremiyah Love not only becomes the Cardinals most explosive home run hitter at RB, he gives the team Christian McCaffrey type of versatility as a slot WR, a position that had been largely ignored by Kyler Murray.
Curious fact --- as talented as the 49ers' roster has been --- since they traded for Christian McCaffrey in 2022, they are 35-13 and yet, when he has been unable to play, they are 8-12.
I have never understood the "don't take RBs in 1st round" propaganda. Other than the QB, a team's RB1 is going to get far more touches that any other player on the team. Why not try to have the most talented RB possible to give those touches to?
For example, last season McCaffrey had 413 touches for 2,126 yards and 17 TDs. The next highest touches went to Brian Robinson with 100 and then to George Kittle with 55. McCaffrey had more touches than all of the 49ers' receivers combined.
Are you really claiming that Miami's Francis Mauigoa is an "elite" tackle? Why then do so many scouts believe that he is better suited to play guard in the NFL? Had the Cardinals taken him at #3, pundits like yourself would have been apt to criticize the Cardinals for reaching out of need.
One thing no pundit can argue about Jermeiyah Love is whether or not he was deserving of a top 3 pick seeing as he is by many accounts, the most "elite" athlete in the class.
I think this 2023 article by ESPN's Bill Barnwell on whether Bijan Robinson ought to be a first-round pick is excellent additional reading on this subject. It also looks particularly prescient in retrospect. Robinson has turned into the best running back in the NFL, and the Falcons have yet to finish above .500 since selecting him.
For all those reasons, selecting Love at No. 3 was baffling.
If you poll the GMs, HCs and DCs in the NFL South as to whether they would have preferred the Falcons to pass on Bijon Robinson, the vote would be a unanimous yes.
Same for the teams in the NFC North with regard for Jamyr Gibbs, whom the Lions selected 4 picks after the Falcons took Bijon Robinson in 2023.
The Lions since drafting Jamyr Gibbs have a record of 36-15, winning 2 of the last 3 division titles and making it to the NFC Championship game in 2023.
In 2022 the year before the Lions drafted RB Jamyr Gibbs, they did not finish in the top 5 in yards, passing, rushing or scoring. Since Gibbs arrived the Lions have finished in the top 5 all three seasons in yards, passing and scoring.
Gibbs's stats:
Rushing: 3,580 yards, 34 TDs --- Receiving: 1,449 yards, 10 TDs --- 3/3 Pro Bowls
Bijon's Stats:
Rushing: 3,910 yards, 25 TDs --- Receiving: 1,738 yards, 9 TDs ---3/3 Pro Bowls, 2025 1st Team All-Pro
One move I did like was the signing of Seumalo, who finished in the 95th percentile or better in both pass and run block win rate at guard with the Steelers last season.
✅ Yes!
NFC West
San Francisco 49ers: B+
Biggest move: Signing LT Trent Williams to a new contract
Move I liked: Signing WR Mike Evans
Move I disliked: Drafting WR De'Zhaun Stribling with the first pick in Round 2
Seattle Seahawks: B-
Biggest move: Extending WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Move I liked: Extending OT Charles Cross
Move I disliked: Letting Edge Boye Mafe leave in free agency
Los Angeles Rams: C+
Biggest move: Trading for Edge Myles Garrett
Move I liked: Signing CB Jaylen Watson
Move I disliked: Drafting QB Ty Simpson
Arizona Cardinals: D
Biggest move: Releasing QB Kyler Murray
Move I liked: Signing G Isaac Seumalo
Move I disliked: Drafting RB Jeremiyah Love at No. 3
Red Rain's assessment of the Cardinals' 2026 Off-Season
Positives:
Moving on from:
* HC Jonathan Gannon
* QB Kyler Murray
* DT Dalvin Tomlinson
* G Evan Brown
* T Jonah Williams
* S Jalen Thompson (given that the time is right to start The Rabbit)
Free Agent signings:
* G Isaac Seumalo
* RB Tyler Allgeier
* T/G Matt Pryor
* KR/WR Devin Duvernay
* NT Roy Lopez
* S Andrew Wingard
* LS Casey Kreiter
Assistant Coach Hires:
* Teryl Austin - Sr. Defensive Advisor
* Pete Kwiatkowski - Defensive Line
* Rod Wilson - Linebackers
* Zac Etheridge - Cornerbacks
* Brent Jackson - Defensive Quality Control
* Michael Ghobrial - Special Teams Coordinator
* Matt Schaub --- Quarterbacks
Draft Picks: (based on potential value)
* RB/SWR Jeremiyah Love
* G Chase Bisontis
* QB Carson Beck
* DT Caleb Proctor
Questionable Decisions:
* Hiring Mike LaFleur as head coach as yet another rookie head coach whom the owner and GM hired on the condition of him accepting coaching staff holdovers.
* Retaining Nick Rallis as defensive coordinator
* Mishandling of Jacoby Brissett, while giving Gardner Minshew $5.1M in guaranteed money and spending a Day 2 pick on a QB
* Focusing too heavily in FA and Draft on Offense
* Doing little to nothing in FA or the draft (1 pick) to improve a defense that quit on the coaches and the team, while Bidwill and Ossenfort managed to coax LaFleur into retaining Nick Rallis as DC whose schemes have been "caution and cushion" oriented, severely lacking in pass rush efficiency, run support and tackling --- plus, whose player development has been hugely and summarily disappointing
* Re-signing CB Sean Murphy-Bunting, who is not quick, fast or agile enough to play slot CB and, even worse, graded a pathetic 29.3 tackling grade in 2024
* Continuing not to place any kind of high priority on tackling
* Calling off the 3rd practice of mandatory mini camp --- same old same old with Monti Ossenfort as GM
*
Our Grade: D
But obviously for much different reasons than moving on from Kyler Murray and selecting RB Jeremiyah Love at pick #3, which we believe are two of the biggest positives. The irony being --- had the Cardinals defied the locker room again by holding on to Kyler Murray --- and had they chosen to reach for need at pick #3 at the expense of passing on Jeremiyah Love, then our off-season grade for the Cardinals would have otherwise been a resounding F.
Red Rain Request:
Kyle, Sam and I would like to ask you to respond to members' comments that you like by simply writing "like" and/or placing one of these emojis ✅👏👍🔥 in your response, as we intend to reward our members for their excellent contributions to the threads. Speaking of which, we honor Redrun this week for his superb string of comments. To a Cardinals' fan who throws tight spirals! Congratulations!
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