Arizona Cardinals takeover of the NFC West has begun

If your phone had any alerts on your phone around Noon central time on Friday, you couldn’t believe the amount of first round picks that flew around. The catalyst of it all was the Miami Dolphins and general manger Chris Grier, wheeling and dealing 1st rounders and shaking up the entire draft. San Francisco moving up to the 3rd overall is a confusing move in my opinion. Who could John Lynch possibly be targeting?

Or is this another attempt to fleece a team, just like they did with the Chicago Bears in the 2017 draft? There are reports that team isn’t moving on from incumbent starter Jimmy Garoppolo, but teams have said that before and basically lied (Josh Rosen, Mike Glennon in CHI, etc.). The real reason this is the match for the fiery Arizona Cardinals takeover is that the only team to have a first round pick in the 2022 draft is Arizona. 

Arizona has continued to stack move after move in an attempt to return the division title to where it belongs- in the desert. Whereas Russell Wilson hasn’t gotten that much help on the offensive line, the Rams are in a salary cap hellhole next season, and the 49ers are just…there. While the 9ers were hit hard by the injury bug last season, will those injuries change those players for good?

Arizona has received a lot of jokes and memes about being a “retirement home” for NFL Veterans. That may’ve been true before 2008, but not anymore. There has never been an offense as explosive as the one that’s currently suiting up, and the defense is getting armored up with experience and big name players who’ve had success elsewhere.

In today’s NFL, you can’t pay enough for experience. For a player to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations is absolutely huge. Zane Gonzalez, Mason Cole and half of the corners were prime examples of that last year for the Cardinals. Arizona can also (and will most likely) pick up Kyler Murray’s 5th year option to elongate his rookie contract, so the team can keep it’s upward rise going for as long as possible.

So let’s take a big moment to thank the New York Jets, Detroit Lions, and Miami Dolphins for taking away arguably the most important thing in an offseason- a first round pick from our rival teams.

The Arizona Cardinals takeover has begun.