The Arizona Cardinals seemed to have something going for them early in the 2025 NFL Season, but the bottom fell out from this operation, and by the time the 2025 season ended, the Cardinals were thoroughly viewed as a bottom-3 team in the NFL.
It was so bad that Kyler Murray was released and has since signed on with a new team. The Cardinals also brought in a new coaching staff led by first-time head coach Mike LaFleur, the brother of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
A team that was once 6-4 during the 2024 season and was building toward being a fringe-playoff team in 2025, Arizona is now facing a harsh reality of being in no man's land as the 2026 NFL Draft approaches later this month. When you look at this entire situation, the Cardinals are just stuck in a pit of nothingness.
The Arizona Cardinals are truly in no man's land approaching the 2026 NFL Draft
The Cardinals have obviously known that they own the third overall pick in this year's draft. A while back, before Oregon quarterback Dante Moore decided to return to school, early mock drafts obviously had Fernando Mendoza going first overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, and Moore headed to the New York Jets with the second overall pick.
But with Moore back in school, even the Jets are in a tough spot, but they at least have five first-round picks in the 2026 and 2027 NFL Drafts and are clearly in a rebuilding mode. The Cardinals, though, are in an odd spot.
Former head coach Jonathan Gannon went 4-13 in his first year as the Cardinals head coach in 2023. The team doubled their win total in 2024, making clear progress. And even in 2025, the Cardinals were off to a 2-0 start, and it did feel like, for a short time, that this team was beginning to put things together.
Now unexpectedly on the borderline of being in a rebuild, there isn't any direction with this team. Not only is Jacoby Brissett slated to start for Arizona, but there isn't an obvious quarterback prospect in sight for Arizona to take with the third overall pick. They could always just take Alabama's Ty Simpson, but he's not viewed as that good of a prospect.
General Manager Monti Ossenfort might have eyes on the 2027 season, but it's absolutely not a guarantee that the front office makes it through the 2026 season. You just don't really have much of a direction to take if you're Arizona, and this even spills into the pick itself.
Do you bolster the offensive line? How about add a pass-rusher? A wide receiver, perhaps? When a team could justify going in several different directions with a first-round pick, and one this high, you know it's not an ideal spot.
Overall, the Cardinals could not be more in no man's land. This team is primed to again win a small handful of games in the upcoming season, but if nothing else, there does appear to be a ton of viable first-round quarterback prospects in next year's NFL Draft.