We’re all tired. Fed up with the losing and the sense of languishing. Sick of spending Sundays in a stadium full of infidels, where our NFL team must frequently resort to operating on silent counts just to combat enemy noise in their own building.
It’s depressing. It’s embarrassing. The Valley is a market that now exceeds five million people. We all deserve better.
So how do the Cardinals get there?
Step back from all the ridicule and mockery of a revamped quarterback room that has a combined NFL record of 37-75. Understand there is nothing more important to the Cardinals than securing their next franchise quarterback.
Hopefully, they tried to convince Malik Willis to sign with Arizona, who was the only free agent quarterback with that kind of upside/ceiling. There is no shame in failing if Willis simply chose a better location.
The Cardinals could draft a quarterback in six weeks.
Theoretically, they could make a dramatic move to acquire Alabama’s Ty Simpson, whose stock surged at the NFL Draft Combine. But the signing of Gardner Minshew to a one-year contract as a backup quarterback suggests they have other intentions.
Namely, build out the offensive line so it’s a primary strength of the team moving forward. And then find your next franchise quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft, which is expected to be full of star power at the very top.
But here’s the rub: Tanking is impossible in the NFL, a violent world where the greatest players are driven by the warrior heart and the gladiator spirit. Asking them to accept defeat in any context runs contrary to their nature. Any kind of tanking behavior will immediately kill the culture, and you risk losing your best players forever.
So how do you lose with dignity and fight?
Answer: With Jacoby Brissett and Minshew at quarterback.
For many Cardinals fans, general manager Monti Ossenfort is getting cooked more than he is cooking. That’s fair. He has whiffed on a good chunk of his free agent forays entering 2026 and his win-loss record is identical to that of fired head coach Jonathan Gannon.
But Ossenfort was smart enough to sign Brissett on a very affordable two-year contract, with full awareness that he might be pulling the plug on Kyler Murray. And now Ossenfort must finish and ace the succession plan, or we’re all sunk for a good chunk of the future.
Let history be our guide. Following the sudden retirement of Kurt Warner, the Cardinals handed the keys to Derek Anderson, John Skelton, Max Hall, Kevin Kolb, Richard Bartel, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer. And that’s when Steve Keim struck gold, acquiring Carson Palmer in a trade with the Raiders.
In the NFL, you either hit rock bottom or catch lightning in a bottle. And after Warner and Palmer, I think we’re out of bottles.
Which means we’re all at an emotional crossroads. We are all shortsighted and short-tempered.
Can we endure another year of losing games without losing our minds? Can we give this team another year of grace, a sense of trust they haven’t earned, when all the goodwill for team owner Michael Bidwill has expired?
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m.-10 a.m. on 98.7 FM and the Arizona Sports app.