Mike LaFleur Arizona Cardinals
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Several Arizona Cardinals players have shared their thoughts on Mike LaFleur and his attempt to challenge them at the start of offseason activities.
The Arizona Cardinals are kicking off a new era with Mike LaFleur as the team’s next head coach. He’d quickly begin looking to put his stamp on the program on the first day of offseason activities on Tuesday.
LaFleur didn’t want to waste any time. He tried to establish right away that he is going to have a no-nonsense approach, which he tried to convey to the team.
Arizona is coming off four-straight losing seasons, going back to 2021. That 2021 season was the Cardinals’ only trip to the playoffs in the last 10 seasons. So, LaFleur is looking at a rebuild. Imprinting his own culture on the team is going to be a major step in changing Arizona’s fortune.
Arizona Cardinals Players Respond to Mike LaFleur
Zaven Collins Arizona Cardinals
GettyArizona Cardinals linebacker Zaven Collins
It’s early, but it appears that Mike LaFleur is doing a good job communicating his message. Linebacker Zaven Collins shared on Tuesday, via the Arizona Republic, that it starts with communication.
“Yeah, he’s clear and correct and very to the point on how he wants things done and what he expects from us in the building, what he allows and what he doesn’t allow,” Zaven Collins said, via the Arizona Republic. “You can kind of tell he’s like a no B.S. guy. He’s going to tell you what he wants, how he thinks and just be up front.”
Cardinals center Hjalte Froholdt added to that, saying, “It was Day 1, but it was a good tone setter, we got some of the foundation down… I think he’s been around and seen a lot of really good coaches so it’s natural for him to go up there and speak from the heart. There’s some scripting of course, some things he needs to go over, but there’s also something natural you can see comes off the bat, off the rip, it’s authentic. That’s good.”
Ultimately, the message from LaFleur is clear. Arizona needs to win.
“Win football games,” Collins said of LaFleur’s message, “Yeah, very clear. That’s something we want to do this year for sure — for the Valley, for this organization, for all the guys that come into work every single day.”
League Sources Think the Cardinals Could be Tanking in 2026
Arizona Cardinals, Monti Ossenfort
GettyArizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort.
The message from Mike LaFleur to the Arizona Cardinals might be to win. Hopefully, that gets through because a recent report from insider Jason La Canfora indicated that sources within the league are concerned that the Cardinals could be tanking in 2026 as part of a larger rebuild.
“They’re tanking, bro,” a general manager told La Canfora. “They aren’t even hiding it.”
That general manager wasn’t alone. An agent also agreed that the outlook is bleak in 2026 for Arizona, and that’s because the Cardinals are already looking ahead to 2027.
“It’s all about 2027 for Arizona,” the agent told La Canfora. “It’s between them and the Jets (for the top pick). They want LaFleur to have his pick of anyone he wants.”
Nobody wants to be accused of tanking, and players aren’t going to lose games on purpose. Still, looking at what Arizona has done so far, it’s clear that LaFleur has a major rebuild on his hands.