TAKING STOCK: 2022 ARIZONA CARDINALS

BY ADAM GREENE

Another red hot fall ended in the hazy shades of winter for the Arizona Cardinals. After opening the season 7-0, the Cardinals lost four of their last five, including a Week 18 38-30 defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. A win there would have netted them the NFC West title.

Still, the Cards did enough to open the season that they closed it with a Wild Card spot. Their playoff run was short lived as the eventual Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams made short work of them inside SoFi Stadium.

ARIZONA CARDINALS

2021-22 Record: 11-6, second place NFC West

Playoffs: Lost 34-11 to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card Round

NOW WHAT?

After some ludicrous suggestions that the team might move on from head coach Kliff Kingsbury this offseason, the team gave both him and general manager Steve Keim contract extensions. Next up, supposedly, is quarterback Kyler Murray, only it shouldn’t be. Arizona has Murray’s rights for two more years with the fifth year option (due to selecting him in the first round). They have a franchise tag they can use after that. Now, if Murray shows continued growth and the ability to lead the Cardinals to a legit postseason run then, fine, give him a new contract next offseason. But this one? This was not a Josh Allen year three. It wasn’t even a Jared Goff or Carson Wentz year three and both those contracts blew up in the Rams and Philadelphia Eagles’ faces.

Murray not only hasn’t proven he deserves a franchise QB pay raise, he’s not proven he can stay healthy. He was knocked out of their season finale game of the 2020 season with a playoff spot on the line and missed two games last year. I would wait. I would have waited on Josh Allen too, to be fair, and cost the Buffalo bills about $5 million more a season. I think it’s worth it not to be stuck with a Goff or Wentz contract.

FREE AGENCY

If Murray can’t get it done it won’t be because the Cardinals haven’t tried to help him. They opened the free agency period re-signing tight end Zach Ertz and running back James Conner. They also kept Murray’s back up Colt McCoy for good reason. McCoy is 3-2 in his last five starts and, while he comes with a different skillset than Murray, can run Kingsbury’s offense.

They lost Christian Kirk to the Jacksonville Jaguars to a contract no one on the planet would match, but he’s far from irreplaceable. A guy like Jarvis Landry and/or Byron Pringle makes a lot of sense. Landry, especially in the NFC West, would be worth the money it took to sign him.

On defense, they’ve kept linebacker Dennis Gardeck and defensive end Micahel Dogbe. They cut linebacker Jordan Hicks, but have drafted guys to replace him the last two years. Chandler Jones is gone too, so they’ll need another edge rusher.

DRAFT

In my first mock draft I had Arizona taking Kaiir Elam, cornerback out of Florida for obvious reasons. Some of the best wide receivers in the NFL are in the NFC West, including two All Pros from last season (Cooper Kupp and Deebo Samuel). With their second rounder, they need to look at an edge rusher like Drake Jackson out of USC or Sam Williams from Ole Miss.

NFC WEST

The Rams should remain the class of the NFC West, but with Russell Wilson gone in Seattle and San Francisco breaking in Trey Lance, there’s some real room to move for the Cardinals. It likely won’t net a division title, but that No. 5 seed should remain theirs for the taking in the NFC.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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