The Chiefs will play the Eagles in the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks, but this time the Cardinals will not be hiring a defensive coordinator from the game. The game will feature a bunch of former Cardinals though -- Hollywood Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and D.J. Humphries will all suit up for Kansas City. They will not, however, have a place in this mailbag. Questions have been edited for length and clarity. Don't forget to send a question for a future mailbag with at least a first name and last initial.
From Chad Nekolo:
"Pretty cool to see a former Cardinal hired as a GM, even if I have to admit to not remembering him from the 2010 season. I did notice that a vast majority of general managers actually never played football in the NFL. How does one get a job as a scouting intern and work their way to GM if they don't play football? Is that a normal job some guys guy after college? I know Monti didn't play in the NFL, what did he do?"
Well, even if a GM didn't play in the NFL, he often played in college on some level. That's what Ossenfort did, as the QB for University of Minnesota-Morris. Steve Keim played at N.C. State. But GMs come from all areas. Being a GM, you can come from the business side of sports, in which you don't have to have played sports (and then would rely on your top personnel guys when it comes to roster building.) Almost all of them come up through the ranks one way or another, starting perhaps as a scouting intern or even a personnel intern. If you are smart, and you learn different aspects as you go -- and you end up with the right circumstances, of course -- a GM can come from diverse areas. Jonathan Gannon was in scouting at the beginning of his career and there are those that think had he stayed on that side of the building, he'd be a GM by now instead of a head coach.
From Rob Ert:
"Why do the teams in the north and midwest get to play in their favorable weather conditions in the winter -- with snow and/or 20 below -- but the Cardinals don't get the same favor with the heat in September? Doesn't seem to be an issue with teams like Miami, Tampa Bay and even San Francisco last year. Heck, I remember Sun Devil Stadium games and the other team would melt by the second half. Just seems odd that the real true homefield advantage the Cardinals really have is taken away. Why's that?"
I'm not sure I've seen many 20-below games, but I understand your point. It's pretty simple when it comes to the Cardinals. The fans hate sitting in the heat if they don't have to. The team took that into account with a stadium that could be a dome. Why would you open that up when it's more than 100 degrees? There was a reason the Cardinals wanted to get away from Sun Devil Stadium, and getting climate controlled was one of the biggest reasons. The other teams weren't the only ones melting.
From Brian C:
"Hi Darren. I'm remembering an episode from Hard Knocks in fall 2022 with the Cardinals. It showed Budda Baker with his little sister, who was looking at colleges and seemed very interested in attending ASU. Their mom was also in the scene, which was a nice family moment. When he signed his recent extension, I think I read somewhere he wanted to be in Phoenix since he had moved his family here. I'm just curious if his sister actually made it to ASU. It was a heartwarming glimpse into a superstar's life and I've always wondered how it ended up."
I believe that his sister indeed became a Sun Devil, but beyond that I don't know specifics. I do know Baker has always been family-oriented so having her go to school where he plays isn't surprising.
From Don Pijut:
"We need an edge rusher. What if you offered Chandler Jones a 1-year deal say for $5 million? Not only would you get an experienced edge rusher, but you would gain a great mentor for our younger guys to learn from."
Chandler Jones the former Cardinal? Chandler Jones the athlete who has not played a down of NFL football for two years and was showing his age when he was playing? Chandler Jones the guy who has had multiple issues off the field since then? Yeah, that's not happening.
From Gary Hilton:
"Darren, recently you talked about who may be the best player in Cardinal history. Numerous fans elect Fitz, and agreed he was great. However, I feel it's Charley Trippi. He's in both the college and pro football Halls of Fame. He was primarily a running back but also a safety. Trippi was the main reason the Cards were NFL champions in 1947. All-time total yards leader when he retired."
When we talk about such things as greatest player in a franchise's history, it's always going to be a matter of opinion. It's difficult to measure players across decades, and in football, across positions. No one is going to (or actually, no one should ever) call you wrong. Trippi was tremendous in his time and deserves all the accolades he received. (Although allow another year or so and Larry Fitzgerald will also be a college and pro HoF guy.)
From Cris P:
"Good day, Mr. Urban. My main question relates to defensive play calling, specifically the verbiage. We have all heard the OC or QB calling out the plays, i.e. 'two Jet, Z lock, Y shallow cross right, on one, on one.' But I am curious how it sounds when calling defensive coverages. Do you have any sound bites of the DC or player calling out coverage? Lastly, can you hit your good pal Mr. Goodell up and tell him to make sure the Colts/Cards game is in Indy. I know you got that type of pull! It would be cool for them to play in Germany, but being from and living in Indiana I don't get a lot of chances to see the Cards play in person."
We will see where the Colts game lands; if we are being selfish I'd love for a chance to go to Germany since I've never been there and since I have spent a week in Indy ever year since 2001 because of the Scouting Combine (plus the couple of times the Cardinals have played there since 2000.) I wouldn't fret yet. I'd still think the odds are the game remaining in Indy.
As for the play calls, I can't explain it as well as former NFL linebacker Will Compton, so take a listen. It can be similar to what offenses hear.
From Chad Conner:
"Have you seen the article about Jayden Daniels and virtual reality? I know everyone's looking for the next big thing, and you can always just copy what somebody else does without the same results, but our QB1 is a bona fide video game player."
I see what you did there. (Don't you tire of the old gaming jokes? Yes, it's rhetorical, because clearly you have not.) The Cardinals actually once did use VR training when Carson Palmer was QB1. But they moved on after Bruce Arians left and it hasn't come up again. I don't know the specifics, but every person can learn in a different way -- as you noted, every person can get different results. (I know Josh Rosen didn't have interest in working with it. It's possible it came up with Kyler too.)
From Nate S:
"Hey Darren. With this season in the books, were there any players on your radar that failed to meet expectations?"
I suppose it would depend on what the expectations were. I've been doing this so long that I don't usually have a lot of tangible expectations, and certainly not high. I'm pretty realistic when I look at situations. Kyler Murray had a good season. Could he have done more? I can understand people who think that (and I'd wager Kyler himself wished he would've done more.) I think anyone was hoping for more from Darius Robinson, but that's directly related to injury in my opinion. I was thinking the team was a 7-to-9 win team. They ended up in that range.
From Michael T:
"Hello Darren. The offseason is always filled with questions of who, what, where and when but do you know why the Cardinals don't have a team song like the Eagles? Fly Eagles Fly? Maybe the team could have a local contest for a Cardinals theme song which could be sung before each home game."
The Cardinals do not have a fight song. They do, however, have an eye out for new ideas to upgrade the fan experience at home games and this -- in some way, shape or form -- is an idea I can pass along to the powerbrokers over here.
From Brian Short:
"Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, C.J. Stroud, Baker Mayfield. I could keep going, but you get the point. Why must we hear 'Kyler Murray is only in his second year in Petzing's offense, give him time' when other QBs have instant success? You've repeatedly discussed how you think Kyler is our QB in 2025 no matter what. Fair enough. What about after?"
The NFL in a lot of ways is a year-to-year league. After 2025? I have no idea. There are a lot of things that go into the success of any QB beyond just the QB and/or the offensive coordinator. There are going to be a lot of teams in this offseason with deep unknowns about what will happen at quarterback. This franchise has been there before. It's a) not fun and b) worse than whatever the perceived issues Murray might have.
From Sorren Isa:
"Monti noted last free-agency period how he wanted to sign players with a history of health, and that being able to play every down was important. I think you may have even written a piece on it ... and then our top three signings all were injured for significant portions of the year. Do you think he will double down on this strategy in 2025, or will he consider players coming off an injury like Will Fries or Malcolm Koonce who could be the second best player available at their position if they didn't have an injury? You can always get injured, no matter your past health record."
I don't think the Cardinals will rule anyone out unless their injury history is severe. The question is what kind of money are players looking for. You aren't wrong, anyone can get hurt. I have no idea what the free-agent path might look like. Generally, however, I like the idea of trying to sign guys that have been healthy. Bad luck happens.
From Michele T:
"The Cardinals have a young team but how young? How do they compare with the rest of the league? Who has a younger roster? The Rams have some impressive young talent. Kind of a bummer they are in our division. Beyond the age of the roster, how do the Cardinals compare in terms of snaps by rookies? Actually getting playing time is crucial in rookie development. On an unrelated note, why didn't Jon Gaines get more playing time this year? The team seemed really excited about him last year before the injury. Thanks for all you and the team do. I miss 'Wise Guy Trivia' and hope it'll come back in some form before the next season begins."
Lot of stuff here, Michele. First, we love Wise Guy Trivia too, but save for a couple of tentpole events, that'll be an in-season thing. But fret not, we are working on a couple of other new segments that will hopefully be equally entertaining, or at least cause some fun chaos between myself, Dani and Paul.
As for your other questions, Gaines got the playing time he earned. Whether at guard or center, the team had other options they liked better, and drafting Isaiah Adams and re-signing Hjalte Froholdt says something too.
The age stuff, here's what I found. The league figured out the numbers based on opening day rosters (and the Cardinals had some youth on IR to start the season, like rookies Darius Robinson, Christian Jones and Elijah Jones, so it's probably it might be a little lower). The Cardinals had an average age of 26.04, which was 15th youngest in the league. That also included Matt Prater over Chad Ryland at kicker, so a significant age difference compared to the end of the year. The Packers were the youngest roster at 24.96 years old, and the Dolphins the oldest at 26.94 (thanks Calais!).
As for rookie snaps, the Cardinals had 3,261. The Rams had the most in the league at 4,864; the Vikings the least at 464. In the NFC West, the 49ers were at 3,615, and the Seahawks at 2,498.
