The Cardinals are not grocery shopping on an empty stomach this year, they are grocery shopping on a budget.
That’s the best way I can explain what’s going on in early free agency for the Cardinals as they mostly do nothing.
Let me explain further.
It's possible the Cardinals lack of activity in free agency is because Michael Bidwill got sick of signing checks in the last 12 months. It wouldn’t be the first time the Cardinals franchise took a sabbatical from spending in its history under the Bidwill family.
It's also possible that many free agents tend to follow coaches and coordinators (Zack Allen and Denver is a perfect example) and with the hiring a very, very inexperienced staff many players could be choosing comfort and dollars in other places.
By the way, if zero Eagles players follow Jonathan Gannon to the desert, I’m going to be a little concerned but lets get back to the last 24 hours of nothingness from the team.
It's also possible that the Cardinals inactivity is all according to a well thought out strategic plan.
Here’s how that would look:
We know the Cardinals are going to go as Kyler Murray goes. We don’t know if Kyler Murray is going to miss 1 month or all the months of the 2023 season.
We also know that Kyler Murray’s cap hit is set to explode in 2024 meaning every dollar spent this year that impacts next year HAS to be money well spent.
How could you justify paying dollars this year for a team that may have no chance of competing with their franchise quarterback hurt that also impacts next year’s cap situation when your franchise quarterback will be healthy?
In reality, it’s not the 2023 free agent class that matters, it’s the 2024 free agent class. Carrying over cap space, signing roster fillers to one year deals and prioritizing draft picks makes a lot of sense for a team about to experience life with a very expensive and very talented quarterback.
It's not very exciting and you are going to experience a lot of free agent FOMO but it’s also the right plan.
You know, assuming the Cardinals actually have a plan.