Cardinals have an impressive offensive foundation in place for 2022

The Arizona Cardinals could be just a few complementary pieces away from having one of the NFL’s top offenses in 2022.

Over the past three years, the Arizona Cardinals front office has assembled one of the most formidable offensive foundations in professional football.

General manager Steve Keim has put together a five-man contingent, players who are basically the heart and soul of the Cardinals scoring attack. Each member of the group was added since the arrival of Kliff Kingsbury, the youthful head coach who was hired back in 2019. The offensive guru took over a unit that was the NFL’s worst in 2018, and the transformation under the 42-year old Kingsbury has been phenomenal.

Like most teams around the league, Arizona got the ball rolling by acquiring a superstar-caliber quarterback. The organization selected Kyler Murray with the draft’s first-overall selection in ’19, and the result has been two Pro Bowl appearances in three seasons for the multi-talented passer.

Arizona Cardinals began to place top-notch talent around Kyler Murray in 2020

Cards general manager Steve Keim pulled off the heist of the century back in 2020 when he obtained DeAndre Hopkins from the Houston Texans. The one-sided trade delivered a five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver to the desert and gave Murray a premier pass-catcher to work with from the outset of his young career.

Keim worked some magic during last year’s offseason, adding yet another outstanding component to the Cardinals’ offense. In March of 2021, the team acquired Rodney Hudson in a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. The 32-year old center, a three-time Pro Bowler, is considered one of the best at his position in the NFL.

One month after landing Hudson, Arizona signed running back James Conner to a one-year contract. The squad struck gold with the acquisition, who went on to register a whopping 18 total touchdowns for the “Air Raid” attack. This past Monday, the franchise and Conner agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal that will keep the ball-carrier in town through the 2024 campaign.

In October of ’21, the Cards brought in another valuable toy for Kingsbury to play with. This time around, Keim shipped a fifth-round draft choice and cornerback Tay Gowan to the Philadelphia Eagles for tight end Zach Ertz. The three-time Pro Bowler will also be hanging around for a while after agreeing to a $30 million contract with the Redbirds earlier this week.

With five studs already in place, Keim has laid an impressive foundation for the Cardinals. Kingsbury could very well be just a couple of complementary pieces away from overseeing one of the most dynamic offensive attacks in the NFL.