The Arizona Cardinals are no longer on the clock. The offseason has been very successful. The renovation is just about complete, and results are just around the corner.
No gray area here: The Cardinals are expected to make the playoffs in 2025.
They have been rebuilding since Jan. 2023, from the moment they hired Monti Ossenfort, a man who promised accountability, stability and a long-term approach. A man who raised eyebrows at his debut press conference by saying “ego will not be tolerated in this organization.”
Back then, we weren’t sure where this new regime was taking us. Ossenfort soon landed the team in hot water for tampering with Jonathan Gannon while he was defensive coordinator with the Eagles and preparing for a Super Bowl appearance in Glendale.
The violation was revealed on draft night in 2023, forcing the team to swap third-round picks with the Eagles, losing 28 slots in the process. It was a sloppy and costly error for an anonymous candidate, especially since every other NFL franchise had already filled its coaching vacancy.
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Ossenfort publicly apologized to Michael Bidwill and his staff and didn’t run from his mistake. But it was a bad look, especially after a series of messy incidents under former GM Steve Keim. It was one of those moments that made an Arizona football fan feel cursed.
Today, the calculus is different. Gannon is trending in a good direction and nowhere near a hot seat.
He just received an ‘A’ grade from his team in the NFLPA report card, a staggering accomplishment for a head coach with 12 victories in two seasons. Players really seem to appreciate his sincerity, authenticity, consistency, upbeat nature and love of violence.
When Ossenfort hired his coaching staff, he assembled a triumvirate full of promise and inexperience.
Gannon, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis were more than impossibly young. None of them had ever done the jobs they suddenly occupied. They could’ve been exposed and embarrassed. To the contrary, they’ve mostly held their own.
The 2025 NFL draft was also a gift from Ossenfort to Rallis, a 31-year-old zealot about to enter his third season as defensive coordinator. His son’s middle name is Kyzir. He once practiced defensive calls in a hospital room with his wife, after she had given birth.
He has bravely schemed through an underfunded defense for two years, and it seems that he now has a real toolbox to play with.
Ossenfort needed a big offseason, and on paper, he’s delivered. He spent a good chunk of money to acquire good players in free agency, delivering a Super Bowl hero (Josh Sweat) and a former fan favorite (Calais Campbell).
Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus lavished him with an A+ for the 2025 draft, his second such grade in three years. It all seems to be working out for the Cardinals.
Now comes the hardest part, the trickiest of obstacles, the last thing standing between the Cardinals and the playoffs:
Expectations. The downfall of so many Arizona teams.
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