The Arizona Cardinals have had one of the more odd offseasons in recent memory.
After a national playoff embarrassment at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, the Arizona Cardinals thought it couldn’t get any worse than their 34-11 defeat. They were wrong, as there was this “he said, she said” between Kliff Kingsbury, Steve Keim, and Michael Bidwill.
Some say it didn’t happen, but others don’t buy it. Who really knows what truly happened in January. Then, Kyler Murray and his agent Erik Burkhardt released a few statements that definitely were the talk of the NFL for a long time, including during Super Bowl Week.
On top of that, the tragic passing of Jeff Gladney and Rodney Hudson’s near retirement nearly sent the fanbase into a state of panic. So what is really going in with the Arizona Cardinals? As a lifetime fan of the team, the Cardinals are a team that seems to take one step forward and then two steps back.
The behind-the-scenes drama could cost Arizona Cardinals top-tier free agents down the road.
There are examples of players avoiding a team due to the culture that exists there. For example, does anyone remember the second time around that Tom Coughlin was with the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Arizona is nowhere near that level of atrocity. However, because so many stars have left this team and still have bitterness towards the organization, the statement definitely holds its own weight.
Tyrann Mathieu and Calais Campbell are some of the most recent and even longtime favorite Darnell Dockett had thoughts about the organization as well. If Keim doesn’t get the right contract to Murray, there could be a cavalcade of top players leaving Arizona.
One doesn’t think that would happen with the amount of star power the team has on the roster. But it only takes one botched contract negotiation to see a talented core bounce out of town, as seen by the 2015 team.