Has Cardinals GM Had Successful Offseason?

The Arizona Cardinals are entering an era of their new regime that leaves little margin for error. Going forward, the expectation is that this team will at the very least contend strongly for a playoff berth. There's no more room for "wait and see."

It's easy to over-scrutinize moves made for a GM, especially in free agency, and levy judgment upon them that might not be fully educated, or tell the entire story.

So it's time to take a look: has this offseason made Monti Ossenfort worthy of Cardinals fans' confidence?

Ossenfort has certainly not shied away from offering big checks to premier players. He landed EDGE Josh Sweat on a four-year, $76.4 million deal. He gave a two-year, $29 million deal to DT Dalvin Tomlinson, and a one-year, $5.5 million deal to bring former fan favorite Calais Campbell back to the desert. He even added veteran QB Jacoby Brissett to back up Kyler Murray.

But that's not all. Ossenfort also brought back a handful of rotational contributors. He re-signed Baron Browning, LJ Collier, and retained some OL consistency with Evan Brown and Kelvin Beachum.

Those signings, plus some backup-level depth and a pair of unknown off-ball linebackers, show that Ossenfort is balancing the need to maintain Arizona's culture, while still bringing in top-end talent to raise the production level of the weakest units.

He's also handed out extensions to James Conner, Budda Baker and Trey McBride, the proverbial "big three" of Cardinals football in the 2020s.

Ossenfort is investing in the talent the Cardinals have now while looking towards a draft-and-develop philosophy without neglecting the roster in real time.

Of course, it's hard to evaluate a GM's offseason without seeing his approach in the coming draft. Plenty more will be known about where the Cardinals stand heading into 2025 once they welcome in their newest batch of developmental rookies.

But so far, despite missing out on Milton Williams, Ossenfort has certainly done his part to add talent to the weakest part of Arizona's roster. The moves might not all work out, but it's not for lack of investment.

Simply put, Ossenfort has done the most with the options available to him. Some moves might not be looked upon favorably in the long run, but this Cardinals offseason has been anything but apathetic, and each addition has served a need.

For now, that's all you can really ask for, but Ossenfort still has the pressure of Arizona's first postseason berth since 2021 weighing on him. At the very least, 2025's offseason looks much improved from 2024.