The Cardinals Are Tanking
Most people seemed to think the Cardinals were in for a bad year but it wasn’t until recently that I think it became explicitly clear that is probably the purpose at this point.
The jury is out but most people were down on the Gannon hire. Kyler is recovering from an ACL tear. They traded down in the draft to stockpile picks. They tried to trade Nuk (unsuccessfully) and then ended up cutting him straight up. But then this week they made the unprecedented move of cutting QB Colt McCoy, a capable backup and the probable starter until Kyler is healthy. Instead they are rolling with Joshua Dobbs and something called Clayton Tune. Gannon won’t even say who the starter is, as if it matters. But then they also traded away Isaiah Simmons, the high draft pick tweener who never found a role on the defense, to the Giants for a 7th rounder. They traded O-lineman Josh Jones to the Texans for a 5th. The team seems to be stacking for the future.
Honestly? Probably smart. The Cardinals are in transition from the failed Kingsbury experiment and the Steve Keim roller coaster. The roster is pretty bad at the moment and nobody expects them to compete this year so you may as well clean house as best you can and prepare to actually build your team next season. I don’t think that bodes well for Gannon though. Teams that take the long approach quickly realize that “building” a winner through tanking just means your team is unwatchable dreck for a while and fan patience only goes so far. As a team, tanking might be the right move, but you rarely see organizations commit to the bit. The Browns tried it: Hue Jackson turned into a disaster and the team immediately improved once they found an actual coach. The Dolphins tried it, and Brian Flores bore the brunt of the mess by getting let go just as it was starting to work out. The Jets tried it, but they missed out on Trevor and picked Zach “The Milf Man” Wilson, and this past year they realized that they had to go all in on a plan B instead because otherwise, Saleh was probably on the hot seat. If the Cardinals are aiming for the Caleb sweepstakes, I’m not sure Gannon will survive the transition even if they land him. Maybe that was part of the plan and even Gannon knows he’s on thin ice, but he took his big chance like David Culley did.
No matter what the Cardinals are up to though, I’d have to say this year will not be fun as a Cardinals fan. Watching a bad team with no life is soul-draining. Set an alarm for the draft in 2024 and just snooze your way through this one, my Phoenix friends.
“Watching a bad team with no life is soul-draining.”
*Laughs/weeps in Broncos Fan*
Don’t I know it…..
They talk about how tanking is bad for the fans but it’s starting to seem like fans are almost TOO welcoming to a tank.
Tanking is fun and positive in abstract but actually watching the games is depressing
I think for the NFL and NBA it’s understandable and even a bit savvy. What does seem ridiculous is when Baseball fans start rooting for a tank since draft picks there are far more of a gamble. On a Mets blog I read I’d say the commenters are roughly 40-45% pro tanking, which I get that this season is a lost cause (and I’m complexly OK with the trade deadline moves they made), but I can’t get being jazzed about whether or not they can get in the bottom quartile of teams by October to get a pick of 7th or better to avoid some kind of luxury tax penalty (it’s not my $ and I feel like Uncle Steve is resigned to it anyway).
The cardinals are going to somehow start 3-0 before completely bottoming out at 4-13, just missing out on that juicy 1st pick and Caleb Williams
AZ’s first 3 games
Looking on ESPN app
1: at WSH | WSH -7
2: NYG | NYG -4.5
3: DAL | DAL -7.5
As of now, AZ is an underdog in every game except for their Week 18 game at SEA likely because it’s so far out & there’s no date and time set for it but let’s be honest SEA-AZ is going to be in the late Sunday window that week
Only games where the line is close, and likely because again this is the start of the season so things will change as the season goes along
11: at HOU | HOU -2
SpiderMan Meme Tank Bowl
AZ has HOU’s 2024 1st Round Pick so the game is AZ at HOU(AZ)
12: LAR | LAR -2
Cue the Roundball Rock & roll that beautiful tank footage
What’s funny is the Cardinals already kind of tanked for Kyler….after pseudo-tanking for Rosen. I just hope for their sake that Caleb Williams is actually worth tanking for! It seems like teams that don’t tank more often end up with a franchise guy than those who do.
Come on, everybody knows that USC quarterbacks always pan out!
I feel like Caleb will be a bust. His attitude toward the game doesn’t really seem the same as other elite quarterbacks at the moment.
The Cardinals had it for a brief moment in 2021, then nothing.
It is sad considering they’re one of the oldest franchises. I used to root for a Cards-Browns SB after my team but now it is more Cards-Jags after a certain rapist who shall not be named came over to Cleveland.
McCoy looked fucking awful, and Williams is on how many teams now? He was highly overdrafted, and people thought so at the time.
They’re tanking in that they know it’s going to suck and they’re clearing a lot of cap hit this year but I fully expect themt o try to win as best they can anyway with what they have
the sound typically associated with the Majestic America Eagle winging in front of the flag is actually… The common Red-tailed Hawk! HAHA it’s true!