Arizona Cardinals: Not all or nothing
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals 2016 motto was ‘All or Nothing’ but a different approach should be taken in 2017
Clearly the Arizona Cardinals still want to win the Super Bowl and they still will have the talent to get there in 2017. However it should not be at the expense of the future.
Many fans had no issue with the ‘All or Nothing’ state of mind. The problem was some Cardinals players felt that all they had to do was turn on a switch to turn nothing into all.
The Cardinals are about to lose some key players from their previous playoff runs this week. They may add a piece or two over the coming weeks but in large part they are likely to lose more than they gain in free agency.
The thought process should be to continue to build to win it all but don’t mortgage the future for it. After 2017, some key skill players could be gone, namely quarterback Carson Palmer and receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
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The Cardinals don’t need to go into a complete rebuild but as they re-tool their team for 2017, they shouldn’t go spend all $22 million available to them because Super Bowl or bust. They also shouldn’t go into a shell either.
The Cardinals will still have plenty of very good players that can help the organization win it all. Free agency is just a piece of that pie. The draft will be the other.
So as we look to the Cardinals and free agency, they shouldn’t be going and looking at the Brandon Marshall’s and the Tony Romo’s of the world. They need young players, ones that can play here for years to come but also can provide immediate help.
The 2018 roster planning should come now. Free agency should be about not just 2017 but 2018 and beyond. That is the only way the Cardinals can give themselves a continued chance to win it all should they be unable to accomplish that feat this season.