Top 6 completed objectives from the Arizona Cardinals 2023 offseason

3 - Making over the roster with bargain free agent signings

I know this one irked many Arizona Cardinals fans, but it was necessary if Ossenfort planned on using extra cap space to identify and sign his main core group of players to extensions. Even with generous cap space that the Cards had, he couldn’t just go out there and spend so much cash that he would, in turn, shorten the team’s window for success in his first season. 

Instead, Ossenfort was sensible with his money, signing role players, backups, and cast-offs to short-term deals in an effort to keep adequate cap space for what should become eventual extensions. This will, over time, create much-needed stability for what has been an unstable organization. 

4 - Tailoring the offensive and defensive schemes to fit the players

While we don’t know exactly what the Cardinals schemes will look like this season, we have enough information to at least know the offense will be a run-heavy system while the defense will be tailored around the current personnel. This does two things: One, it shows us that the Cards are committed to quarterback Kyler Murray at least in the foreseeable future, and two, that they aren’t trying to force-feed ill-suited systems onto their players. 

This was exactly what the Cardinals needed, and it should shorten the inevitable adjustment curve when it comes to system changes. Growing pains will still occur, but if they dissipate quickly, Arizona could find itself winning a little more often this year.