The Indianapolis Colts have embraced the rebuild with a fire sale after their underwhelming 2-5 start to the season. Tuesday, they sent star guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz then reported that teams around the league expected the 49ers to respond, hoping to maintain control of first place in the loaded NFC West. Well, it didn't take long for San Francisco to make their counter, acquiring defensive tackle DeForest Buckner the same day. It was slightly less draft capital surrendered compared to the Nelson deal, with the Colts receiving a 2027 fourth-round pick from the 49ers.
This should be further confirmation that the Cardinals should be zigging (rebuilding/tanking) while the rest of the NFC West is zagging (contending) with win-now moves like the ones that took place Tuesday.
But even more importantly, the Colts' fire sale gives the Cardinals' front office a blueprint as far as how to embrace the losing.
Cardinals should have a fire sale like the Colts
Indianapolis gave Jones a massive 2-year, $88 million contract. That's a lot for the best version of Jones, let alone one unsurprisingly struggling coming off such a brutal Achilles injury. Still, that didn't even set this rebuild back as bad as the unnecessarily aggressive trade with the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner.
The Colts gave up 2026 and 2027 first-round picks as well as wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. It wasn't like the Rams saying "F them picks" and winning the Super Bowl. It was saying "F them picks" and then, oh, wait, we made a mistake. Let's recoup some of that draft capital by giving up established pieces.
Fortunately, the Cardinals aren't in that bad of a position. Jacoby Brissett's reworked deal isn't as lucrative or long as Jones. They at least know they're not good, meaning a trade backfiring like the one the Colts made for Gardner isn't an issue.
That said, Cardinals fans don't need me to list off all the mistakes that have been made. They even had to recoup some future draft capital of their own by trading Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Texans for a second-round pick. So far, that seems more like an individual move to ship a disgruntled Harrison rather than the Cardinals embracing a full-on teardown or fire sale like the Colts.
For instance, Indy has already fired general manager Chris Ballard, embracing a new era of player development and evaluation. In other words, they knew they needed to evaluate their organization from top to bottom as opposed to making a band-aid solution trade.
The Cardinals seem to be rebuilding given their unfortunate 2-5 record. But are they genuinely maximizing their rebuild by staying in this relative no-man's-land compared to the Colts? Jacoby Brissett remains quarterback, Nick Rallis remains defensive coordinator, and, most concerningly, Monti Ossenfort remains GM.
Well, I would say owner Michael Bidwill, but in terms of realistic moves that can be made as soon as this season, Brissett, Rallis, and Ossenfort seem like a good start.
It would be surprising to see the Cardinals take that fire sale approach like the Colts with midseason trades. It's too smart a thing to do. But hopefully they can come to an agreement that something has to give. Whether it's switching to Carson Beck at quarterback or moving on from someone higher up, Arizona needs to experiment with changes until they find a working formula.
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