Rank:
7
Arizona Cardinals
2025 record: 3-11
- Cap space ranking: No. 17 | Draft capital ranking: No. 8 | Average: 12.5
- Team needs: OT, WR, RB, IOL, LB
The Cards are in line to finish well behind their counterparts in the NFC West and extend their drought without a playoff win to 10 seasons -- so they'll enter the offseason with major questions. First, after the 2025 additions of
Josh Sweat,
Dalvin Tomlinson and
Calais Campbell failed to translate to wins, how much will the Cardinals want to spend on a team that's not ready to compete now? Second, how will they use their first-rounder -- currently slated to be sixth overall, which would mark their third time in the past four drafts making a top-six pick -- to set this roster up for the future?
And then there is the most consequential question surrounding the Cardinals: What will they do at quarterback? Specifically, should they continue with
Kyler Murray, who is ending the season
on injured reserve after a five-game stint in which he averaged less than 200 passing yards, or seek to trade or release him? A trade seems unlikely, given his new team would owe Murray $42.5 million in cash in 2026 and then another fully guaranteed $19.5 million in 2027 -- that's far from the kind of cheap prove-it deal you want when taking a flier on a change-of-scenery veteran. Releasing Murray would give the Cardinals $54.7 million in dead money to deal with, while gaining them just $1.5 million in cap space. Then again, this could be the offseason for Arizona to do a
hard reset, and moving on from Murray might be part of that, regardless of the cap consequences.