Cardinals determined to wait out NFC wreckage

It’s safe to say this Arizona Cardinals offseason has been an outlier compared to most during the Steve Keim era. Arizona’s general manager is typically the aggressor, boasting past additions such as All-Pros DeAndre Hopkins and Chandler Jones. Even his so called questionable moves, like investing $40 million in the deteriorating Mike Iupati, come with a certain amount of flash and pizzazz.

Keim, for better or worse, is a headline stealer.

That makes his recent inactivity during the month of March all the more puzzling. That is, until you take the pulse of what’s happening within Arizona’s conference. There is an argument to be made that after losing the likes of Chandler Jones and Christian Kirk, the Cardinals are worse off than a season ago, but Keim’s squad still sits pretty in an NFC that has witnessed a gut job. From Russell Wilson to Sean Payton, the conference as a whole is borderline unrecognizable so the Cardinals remain a strong favorite (-110 via Draft Kings) to make the playoffs next season. That’s in the still very competent NFC West, in which both L.A. and San Francisco are contenders to duplicate last year’s playoff runs.

Contenders of year’s past such as New Orleans, Seattle and Dallas appear destined for regression. Meanwhile, those that remain in quarterback purgatory, (Carolina, Atlanta and Detroit), have limited ceilings in conjunction with mediocre rosters.

Thankfully, that’s not Arizona.

Even with his franchise quarterback supposedly “upset” with his current contract, Keim knows that just having the presence of Pro Bowl sensation Kyler Murray under center likely gifts Arizona a playoff spot by default. Considering the fact that the Cardinals franchise has just nine playoff berths since 1960, punching your ticket for January football isn’t lost on team president and owner Michael Bidwill. Viability and relevance prolonged throughout the length of a 17-game season should not be the primary goal, but it beats the hell out of bottoming out.

Even with their quiet offseason, the Arizona Cardinals are still projected to win 9 games in 2022.

— Johnny Venerable (@JohnnyVenerable) March 31, 2022

Which is why Keim and company have largely opted out of partaking in a rather underwhelming free-agent class. There have been deals to be had, sure, but Keim clearly would rather double down on his own talent in preparation for a 2023 free-agent class that currently sports the following core players:

• LT D.J. Humphries
• OLB Markus Golden
• CB Byron Murphy
• DL Zach Allen
• S Jalen Thompson

Dishing out bloated contracts today could hamper Keim’s ability to secure future deals with many of the players he himself drafted, which include Kyler Murray. For a team that began the 2021 campaign an NFL best 10-2, running it back this season isn’t the worst idea. Even with the Super Bowl champion Rams likely to continue their dominance as division winners, Cardinals brass has seen the benefactor of a playoff format that suddenly rewards the random. Both L.A. and Cincinnati won their respective conferences without the advantage of a first-round playoff bye, while San Francisco came within a quarter of play from advancing to the big dance as a wild-card entry.

It’s worth noting that this newfound strategy by Arizona likely wouldn’t track within the suddenly stacked AFC, in which 11 clubs have win totals set at over eight or more victories for next season. Which is why we’ve seen a flurry of haymaker moves repeatedly on display from typically irrelevant Miami and Cleveland in a desperate attempt to stay alive. Status quo isn’t an option on the other side of the bend, but that’s not a reality the Cardinals currently face.

They remain the patron of consistency, something that has so often plagued this organization. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, the extensions for both Keim and coach Kliff Kingsbury weren’t the craziest things. That’s because, unlike so many of their conference counterparts, the Cardinals have an infrastructure that’s led by a dynamic young quarterback. Once ownership finally decides to cut Kyler Murray his fat check, Arizona will be firmly saddled into a place with which Bidwill is most comfortable.

In the mix.

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