The mystery of what happens next for the Arizona Cardinals has finally been solved but the biggest mystery for the franchise is still very much unknown.
Here’s what we do know:
Steve Keim and Kliff Kingsbury are on borrowed time thanks to the Monday Night meltdown in Mexico City.
The full weight of Steve Keim’s failed draft classes and incompetent offseason plan were on full display for everyone to watch.
Injuries and luck have not been on the Cardinals side this year and are a real contributing factor to this Cardinals team's underwhelming season but the biggest culprit is General Manager Steve Keim.
Keim’s offseason consisted of ignoring the pass rush and secondary and to lavish large contracts on a RB and TE. Then he traded a first round pick for a WR after having drafted a WR six times in the previous five years and the top draft pick he did use was spent on a TE.
He had no plan for injury prone players on the OL or defense, added no impact rookies in the draft and spent the vast majority of his free agent capital on positions where cheaper alternatives were widely available.
Steve Keim cannot and will not survive this blatant display of his general managerial incompetence, no matter when he signed a contract extension.
We also know Kliff Kingsbury is not a good NFL head coach. We know because of this stat:
And because the team finally quit Kliff, according to Budda Baker:
We know flat brim hats are not Kliff Kingsbury's thing. And we know Kliff has exhausted his usefulness to this franchise.
What we don’t know is the real mystery for the Cardinals.
We don’t know exactly who or what Kyler Murray is as the franchise quarterback for this team going forward.
We are now effectively entering Year 5 of Kyler Murray’s tenure. He’s exhausted any idea that he needs more time, that he’s still young or that he’s “only” in Year 5. If someone at your job in a significant position of power was not leading the team effectively after four years and asked for some grace because they still weren’t fully settled into the job, it would be a fireable offense.
Four years is an eternity. Donald Trump’s entire presidential term lasted four years. We are only in Year 2 of the Biden administration. If you think we need more time to figure out how anyone feels about those two individuals, you are an absolute glutton for punishment.
After four years, we don’t really know what Kyler Murray is and thats a huge problem. Can he stay healthy for a full season? Can he win when it matters most? Can he effectively lead a team of adult professionals? Is he aware of his own shortcomings? Is he willing or able to change?
This is no longer quiet speculation, this is now being asked out loud from the most unexpected places.
The most important development on Monday night in Mexico City didn’t come on the field between the Cardinals and 49ers, it came from the on field set of Monday Night Countdown.
That is Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Young providing a dose of reality for every Cardinals fan, player, front office member and media member.
Fitz detailing his conversations with the veteran WR’s in the locker room and how they feel about Colt McCoy tells us everything we need to know about how they feel about Kyler Murray.
Steve Young succinctly explaining Kyler Murray’s need to humble himself and go back to NFL school is the only advice Kyler really needs to hear.
Often times in life it’s more important to know what you don’t know than it is to know what you do know.
We don’t know whether Kyler Murray can become the Super Bowl winning quarterback so many of us expected him to be when he was drafted and after his first two years in the league.
What we do know for sure, because Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Young basically told us, was that in order for the Cardinals to save Kyler Murray they need to fire Steve Keim and Kliff Kingsbury.
The only mystery left is when.