Cardinals Mailbag: What Defines Success, Budda Baker, Caleb Williams and More
Minicamp is over for the Arizona Cardinals, and we won't see the team touch the grass as a collective unit until training camp later in July.
Thus, we've entered the final dead period of the offseason before things truly get ramped up and ready to go ahead of the 2023 pre and regular season.
Football time is quickly approaching - though we're not quite there yet.
However, to pass the time, we decided to do the first of many mailbags. Thanks to everybody who submitted questions!
Question: What criteria are you judging the front office and coaching staff on the “success” of 2023? Players and coaches will try to win games, but the front office can hand the coaching staff a poor roster. That success likely won’t be wins, so we have to characterize it another way! - Conner
Success will be determined in some unique ways this season. Arizona has gone full rebuild, and thus the easiest and most important measure of success in winning football games doesn't exactly apply here.
Listening and speaking with head coach Jonathan Gannon, he's certainly not taking no for an answer. If the Cardinals lose every single game this year, they'll go down swinging in each and every week doing so.
I think for a successful year, you want to see a few different things happen:
- You see Kyler Murray healthy and able to operate in a new offense. Regardless of record, if you see Murray upright and flashing what he once did, that's a win.
- You also want to see players develop and improve over the course of the season, which is something that didn't really happen under Kliff Kingsbury. That's not a direct shot at him, but if Gannon and his staff can make visible strides with this roster from Week 1 to Week 17, the Cardinals have to feel good about where they're heading in the future.
- Finally, Arizona can a worst show they're competitive in a lot of these games. This sort of ties into the player development point, but if the Cardinals can prove they're more than what people took them for, fans should be excited for a more talented roster coming in the following years. This - in my opinion - is similar to what you're seeing right now with the Detroit Lions.
Question: What's your read on how the Budda Baker situation unfolds? - Daniel
It's been an interesting few months for Budda Baker here in the desert. The Cardinals didn't blink when Baker asked to either be traded or made the highest paid safety in the league, and as a result Baker has been a "hold in" at minicamp, where he was present in the building but didn't show up on the practice field.
Situations like these could get real ugly, but I don't think it comes anywhere close to that.
We'll start with Baker himself, who has earned the endearment of fans here in Arizona thanks to his passion. Though the Cardinals have fielded some bad football teams, Baker continued to plunge himself into receivers and running backs like it was the final time he would step on a field.
He said he would show up "when it mattered", and thus far he has. Training camp won't be any different - despite the recent financial demands, Baker is a fairly selfless person who plans on being in Arizona this season. He's been in constant contact with teammates and coaches on scheming and play-design.
The Cardinals will have to meet Baker in the middle. As to how they can do that, I'm not quite sure. That's a good article for another day, but GM Monti Ossenfort can hopefully find the balance between taking care of the face of his franchise and not overpaying somebody during a rebuild.
I think that's what happens - the Cardinals re-work or extend his current deal (which has two years and no guaranteed money left) to keep him with the team while not breaking the bank.
Question: What would compensation be for Budda Baker? - Noah
I believe it was Albert Breer that first reported Baker was wanted for a second or third-round pick, and I think that value would still hold up today.
Baker is obviously one of the more talented defensive players in the league, though a potential team trading for him would get him at 27-years-old and on a fairly expensive contract, if his demands to be the top-earning safety were true.
I don't think Baker gets moved, but if Ossenfort were to ship him away, it'd be hard to say no to a second rounder.
Question: What number will Isaiah Simmons wear for the Steelers? - Zachary
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Question: Will the Cardinals win a Super Bowl in the first five years of the Caleb Williams era? - Derrick
Now we're talking. Should the Cardinals pull the trigger on Caleb Williams, you have to imagine they like their chances considering most teams are able to win Super Bowls while their guys are on rookie deals.
Arizona has done a great job of positioning themselves for the future in terms of cap space and draft capital.
If Caleb lives up to his billing - which is already astronomically high - you have to imagine the Cardinals would be in good position to build around him at a high level under new management.
Since it's the offseason and everybody loves the idea of their team before wins and losses accumulate, I'll budge and say yes and get the following headline ready: Caleb's Crew Clinches Cardinals' Championship.
Question: How do you see the starting lineup unfolding for the WRs? Who has really stood out so far in camp? How much has the defensive scheme changed since the new Coaches have arrived? - Skyler
Damn, Skyler. Making me work on this one.
Obviously Marquise Brown will anchor WR1 duties in the desert, but I'm interested to see what unfolds on the outside after Hopkins leaves. Which of either Rondale Moore/Greg Dortch will handle slot duties? Moore comes with the bigger price tag and "ceiling" but for my money, Dortch has been better in-game.
Zach Pascal and Michael Wilson are both 6-2 and provide big bodies on the outside. I think Wilson eventually works his way into more playing time as the season progresses.
Which leads into your second question: Everybody here has been really impressed by Wilson despite being a rookie. If he can stay healthy, I think the Cardinals have something solid on their hands. Maybe not Pro Bowl caliber, at least not this early, but Wilson can mold himself into a darn good receiver.
As far as the defensive scheme goes - NOBODY WILL TELL US ANYTHING SKYLER. The Cardinals have been very sly when asked about what sort of defense they'll run.
Though no team truly stays in their "base" defense, I think the Cardinals are rolling with a 3-4. Zaven Collins is moving to an outside linebacker/edge rusher role while Isaiah Simmons is moving to play with the defensive backs.
So, you essentially have two ready to go off-ball interior linebackers in Kyzir White and Krys Barnes ready to go while Collins anchors one side of the pass rush with BJ Ojulari presumably on the other side.
There's plenty of time for me to be wrong, we'll be able to see it come to fruition at training camp.
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