Today, the NFLPA released their annual report card of team facilities for all 32 franchises and the Cardinals ranked 27th as a team. Arizona jumped up five spots from last season where they held the penultimate position in the rankings.
Over 1,700 players participated in the reflection of team facilities with the intention of the union to shed light on the current situation with each organization.
The NFLPA takes into account various aspects of the treatment of players, families and facilities. The categories graded this offseason were treatment of families, food/cafeteria, nutritionist/dietician, locker room, training room, training staff, weight room, strength coaches, team travel, head coach and finally, ownership.
The two highest grades that the Cardinals received were an A- for the head coach position, held by Jonathan Gannon who is going into his second season with Arizona. While Gannon only went 4-13 in his first season, the Cardinals showed promise toward the end of the season where three of their four wins came against playoff teams.
The team travel was the only other category to be placed in the top half of the league where they were sandwiched between their division rival Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
On the other hand, the team received two F’s for their ownership and locker room where Micheal Bidwill finished only above Pittsburgh's Rooney family and Clark Hunt of the Chiefs. Only 38% of players felt as though the locker room provided enough space for the teams.
Going into their second season together, many are excited to see what Monti Ossenfort and coach Gannon can do to change the culture. It would make their jobs easier if the front office were to make the needed improvements to truly give the players the tools they need to perform at their highest level.
With some of the moves that the organization has recently made in the front office, this could prove to be the perfect opportunity to start fresh and improve upon these downfalls.