What is the Arizona Cardinals plan for 2023? (Tanking or Building?)

The Arizona Cardinals are laying a foundation for a rebuild in 2023, but contrary to popular belief, there is no tank going on.

Do you want to know what a tank is? Think 2017 Cleveland Browns or even last season’s version of the Houston Texans. These were two teams that had bare bones rosters with little to no chance to win many, or in Cleveland’s case, any games. 

As for the 2023 Arizona Cardinals, there is no bare bones roster. The team has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, including Marquise Brown, Trey McBride, D.J. Humphries, and James Conner on offense, and Isaiah Simmons, Zaven Collins, Budda Baker, and Jalen Thompson on defense. 

And that doesn’t include Kyler Murray, who will likely start the season on injured reserve or the PUP list. If the Cardinals were interested in tanking, general manager Monti Ossenfort would be holding a fire sale, accumulating draft picks and potential cap space. 

In case you haven’t noticed, he has done neither. So it’s premature to say the Cards are tanking. You can, however, say the Redbirds are rebuilding. 

Arizona Cardinals are rebuilding through the NFL Draft

It’s no secret that the Cardinals are one of the lesser talented rosters, unfortunately. Their defensive line is bare-bones, I’ll give them that. Big Red is also lacking a CB1, and once they trade receiver DeAndre Hopkins, they will be out a WR1. 

The offensive line may not have any long-term starters on the unit. But then again, they are far from what you could consider to be patchwork. 

Overall, the Arizona Cardinals are not tanking, so you can negate those fears. They are putting themselves in position to bring in their own players through the NFL Draft. Players who fit their system, and it’s long since been about time that they start building the draft as opposed to through free agent signings and trades, which was the ill-fated Steve Keim method.

Source: Are the Arizona Cardinals Tanking This Season? by Donnie Druin, SI.com