Arizona Cardinals

Arizona carries painful dead money at $59.3M (7th most in the league) this season, but $46.5M in current room and $133.1M projected next year means the front office can act boldly almost immediately.

33 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Seven starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Arizona holds seven picks in this draft class, all in the first round, plus three first-rounders over the next three years and 21 total picks across that span, giving the front office as much draft leverage as any team in the league.

The roster's top strength is the tight end and offensive line combination anchored by the 99-overall McBride and 86-overall Johnson Jr., while the quarterback room, starting at 74 overall, is the clearest weakness holding the team back.

• CBhigh

  Will Johnson starts at 77 overall but the unit ranks 30th in starters and dead last in depth, making cornerback the single most urgent position to address.

• DThigh

  Walter Nolen III leads the group at 77 overall but the depth behind him is thin and the unit ranks 28th in starters, requiring immediate reinforcement.

• LEDGEhigh

  Zaven Collins starts at 76 overall but ranks 28th at the position, and the backups behind him on the depth chart are cut candidates, making left edge a critical hole.

• QBhigh

  Jacoby Brissett is the starter at 74 overall, ranking 28th among starting quarterbacks, and finding a franchise signal-caller is the defining challenge of this rebuild.

• RThigh

  Jedrick Wills Jr. holds the starting spot at 74 overall but the unit ranks 31st at the position, meaning right tackle is an urgent offensive line priority.

• WILLhigh

  Cody Simon starts at 70 overall and the position ranks 31st leaguewide in starters, making will linebacker one of the weakest spots on the entire defense.

• WRhigh

  Michael Wilson leads the room at 82 overall but the depth behind him ranks 30th leaguewide and the group as a whole ranks 26th at the starter level.

• FSmedium

  Dadrion Taylor-Demerson starts at 72 overall and ranks 24th at the position, a mid-tier need that should be addressed once the priority holes are filled.

• HBmedium

  Jeremiyah Love is a standout 82-overall Superstar starter but the position depth ranks second overall, so this is a relative strength masking a starter-level gap.

• RGmedium

  Chase Bisontis starts at 75 overall but ranks 26th at the position, a secondary interior line concern behind the more urgent tackles and pass-rushers.

• MIKElow

  Mack Wilson Sr. holds down the middle at 80 overall and the unit ranks 21st, a low-severity need that can be addressed later in the rebuild.

• 73Baron BrowningLEDGEBaron Browning is a backup on the LEDGE depth chart at 73 overall, and cutting him frees $4.4M against $5.0M in dead money, a near-wash that makes sense only if a higher-ceiling replacement is available.Frees $4.4M · $5.0M dead
• 70Gardner Minshew IIQBGardner Minshew II is the second quarterback on the depth chart at 70 overall, and releasing him frees $2.9M against only $2.8M in dead money, making it a virtually cost-free roster spot reclaimed.Frees $2.9M · $2.8M dead
• 71Dante StillsDTDante Stills sits third on the DT depth chart at 71 overall, and cutting him frees $3.7M against just $30K in dead money, making him the cleanest cap-savings move on the roster.Frees $3.7M · $30.0K dead
• 66Hunter LongTEHunter Long is third on the TE depth chart behind McBride and Higgins at 66 overall, and releasing him frees $2.0M against $750K in dead money for a net gain at a position that already has depth.Frees $2.0M · $750.0K dead
• 63Joey BlountFSJoey Blount is second on the FS depth chart at 63 overall, and cutting him frees $1.5M against only $260K in dead money, an easy cleanup cut with Taylor-Demerson ahead of him.Frees $1.5M · $260.0K dead

Arizona has a genuinely elite foundation in Trey McBride and a promising young nucleus in Paris Johnson Jr., Walter Nolen III, Chase Bisontis, Will Johnson, and 21-year-old Superstar halfback Jeremiyah Love, but the franchise is held back right now by a quarterback room that ranks near the bottom of the league and five positions graded as high-severity needs. The cap picture is complicated by $59.3M in dead money this season, though $46.5M in current cap room and a projected $133.1M in room next year give the front office real ammunition to reshape the roster quickly. Budda Baker remains a quality starter at safety but is entering the late stage of his career, and Isaac Seumalo and James Conner are in similar situations, so the organization must be building toward a younger foundation at those spots. Josh Sweat is still an 85-overall pass rusher who can anchor the edge, but his succession should be on the planning horizon. If the franchise can answer the quarterback question and shore up cornerback and the defensive trenches in the next two cycles, the young pieces already in place give this team a credible path toward contention.

The Cardinals are the oldest continuously operating professional football team in the United States, tracing to 1898 when Chicago contractor Chris O'Brien organized the Morgan Athletic Club on the city's South Side. The club took the "Cardinals" name around 1901 after O'Brien described faded, second-hand University of Chicago maroon jerseys as "cardinal red." In 1920 the team became a charter member of the American Professional Football Association (renamed the NFL in 1922), making the Cardinals and the Chicago Bears the only two surviving charter franchises still operating. The team was awarded the 1925 NFL title (still disputed by Pottsville Maroons supporters) and won the 1947 NFL Championship 28-21 over the Philadelphia Eagles behind the famed "Dream Backfield," then lost a snowbound 1948 rematch 7-0, the franchise's only two championships and now the longest active title drought in North American major pro sports (78 seasons). The franchise has called three cities home: Chicago (1920-1959), St. Louis (1960-1987), and Arizona since 1988, being renamed the "Arizona Cardinals" in 1994. In St. Louis they won NFC East titles in 1974 and 1975 under Don Coryell but never won a playoff game there. The Arizona high point came in the 2008 season, when 37-year-old Kurt Warner led the team to Super Bowl XLIII, a 27-23 last-minute loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Arizona won a franchise-best 13 games in 2015 under Bruce Arians. Never relocated in more than a century under continuous Bidwill-family ownership (begun in 1932 under Charles Bidwill; Michael Bidwill is the current owner).