Top 6 completed objectives from the Arizona Cardinals 2023 offseason
By Sion Fawkes
![Cardinals players D.J. Humphries (74), Cameron Thomas (97), and James Conner (6) pose for pictures Cardinals players D.J. Humphries (74), Cameron Thomas (97), and James Conner (6) pose for pictures](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5207,h_2928,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/32/01h5n1p3vvp7nppmb9es.jpg)
We are one week out of Arizona Cardinals training camp and therefore, the beginning of the 2023 season. And you are going to notice a lot of changes between what we’re seeing this year as opposed to when camp opened this time last year.
The Cardinals had one of the most productive offseasons in the NFL, and therefore, you will see new faces heading up the coaching staff, a new general manager overseeing operations, and even an updated logo on the helmets.
So if you’ve been taking the last few months off from Cardinals football and would like a rundown of how things came to be, keep reading. Here are six major objectives that the Redbirds reached over the past six months.
6 major objectives the Arizona Cardinals completed in 2023
1 - Hiring an adequate general manager and a high-energy head coach
Ironically, owner Michael Bidwill deserves a bit of credit here in hiring Monti Ossenfort, who was then given the task of enticing an adequate coaching candidate to one of the worst situations in the NFL. Naturally, many passed on the offer, but the high-energy, ultra-confident Jonathan Gannon didn’t flinch, and he ended up with the job.
As we will get to later, Ossenfort has proven that he is the 180-degree opposite of former general manager Steve Keim, and Gannon has done the same when it comes to contrasting from former head coach Kliff Kingsbury. There is no guarantee that these two will fix the Cardinals, but they are nonetheless an intriguing pair who are nothing like their respective predecessors.
2 - Properly utilizing the draft to build the team
Steve Keim always struggled with this, and again, there is no guarantee that Ossenfort’s intriguing draft haul will amount to anything. But at least he drafted not only for need, but also with the incoming systems in mind.
It started when he brought in the plug-in-and-play Paris Johnson in the first round, and he continued to beef up the Cards from the inside, spending a combined four picks on the offensive line, EDGE, and defensive line. Addressing need was something we rarely saw with Keim, who seemed to use the “best player available” strategy far too often.