What Are Cardinals Priorities Ahead of NFL Draft?

The Arizona Cardinals are in a much-improved state following a slate of aggressive free agency signings by GM Monti Ossenfort. Position groups that were once the main weakness of the team have begun to take shape into a potential strength.

Of course, the major improvements to the defensive line in the form of Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell do begin to shift the spotlight onto other positions of need. And, considering the age of both Campbell and Tomlinson, Arizona isn't necessarily out of the woods yet with regard to their future DL situation.

Pro Football Focus broke down the state of all 32 NFL franchises ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. They noted the needs for each team following free agency.

For the Cardinals, PFF posits that Arizona is in need of starting-caliber additions at the CB and LB positions, and that the Cards might even need to address the depth and future viability of their EDGE, DL, OL and WR groups.

PFF fleshed out Arizona's status heading into the draft:

"The Cardinals put their significant cap space to use this offseason, upgrading one of the NFL’s worst defenses from a season ago by signing Josh Sweat, Calais Campbell, Dalvin Tomlinson and more. Still, Arizona needs a true perimeter lockdown cornerback, with neither Starling Thomas V nor Sean Murphy-Bunting reaching a 61.0 PFF coverage grade in 2024. Although the Cardinals added linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither, he has finished below a 60.0 PFF overall grade in each of the past two years, and 2024 starters Mack Wilson and Kyzir White weren’t much better, with sub-64.0 marks.

"Even with Sweat, Campbell and Tomlinson now in tow, Arizona likely needs more blue-chip talent along the front four to pair with returning youngsters Baron Browning, BJ Ojulari and Darius Robinson. Likewise, Jonah Williams and Kelvin Beachum will be free agents next offseason, and the team is without clear succession plans at tackle. The Cardinals could also use another clear WR2 next to Marvin Harrison Jr. after their wideouts ranked only 28th in team PFF receiving grade last season."

Arizona absolutely does need to address the WR position. They also need a starting caliber off-ball linebacker. Whether or not Ossenfort opts to address those positions in the draft is unknown, but in a draft class that is quite deep on defensive players and thin at WR, it seems somewhat likely a defensive lineman is the move at 16th overall (or at any spot to which Ossenfort could potentially trade down).

There seems to be no "wrong" pick in this draft, and the Cardinals will have plenty of opportunities to set up their future units and add depth in young, developmental rookies.

The Cardinals are in a much better spot than they were a year ago, but with a year in which contention is a necessity looming, there's always reason to continue bolstering fundamental position groups.