Hey everybody, this is your GM, your back row
dumbass, your GM who currently is not on the
team right now, but don't you worry about it,
Kale, here to bring you episode 5 of the Stack
and Shed series. Now in this series, we're going
to cover all 32 teams so nobody is neglected,
everybody gets a turn, and we're going to be
covering a few different topics. And those topics
include what went wrong, what do they need, stack
or shed, their draft picks, one move I would
do, and their cap space. Okay, now in this episode,
we're talking about the Cardinals. So for all
my Cardinals fans, buckle up. It's going to be
a little bit controversial because we're talking
about quarterbacks. All right, let's get into
it. So what went wrong in the Cardinals season?
And I will eventually say it was inconsistent
quarterback play. Now, I was thinking Kyler Murray
was going to come into the season, silence all
the naysayers and critics, and prove why he is
still one of the better quarterbacks in this
league. But I was also under the impression that
if Kyler Murray didn't play well this past season,
that the Cardinals were going to pivot and take
a quarterback in the 26 draft class. Because
at that time, you had names such as Fernando
Mendoza, Dante Moore, Lenore Sellers, Drew Aller,
Cade Klubnick, Garrett Nussmeyer, Taylor Green,
and others that were going to be available in
the draft class. Now, Jacoby... Brissett comes
in and he hops into the roller coaster ride that
is the season and experiences highs and lows.
Now his lows are really bad, but his highs were
okay. And I literally mean okay. And the 13 games
that Jacoby Brissett played. He was 485 attempts
for 315 completions, 3 ,366 passing yards, 23
touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 6 .9 yards per attempt,
and a 64 .9 completion percentage, which isn't
bad, right? Now we look at the offensive rankings
for the Cardinals this past season. They had
the 19th ranked offense and they averaged 20
.9 points per game, 325 .8 yards per game, 5
.2 yards per play, and 38 touchdowns. They were
7th in passing offense and they averaged 232
.6 passing yards per game, 5 .6 passing yards
per play, and 29 passing touchdowns. They were
31st in rushing offense and they averaged 93
.1 rushing yards per game, 4 .3 rushing yards
per play, and 9 rushing touchdowns. Now with
that being said, what do the Cardinals need?
And that is stability at quarterback. Now, unfortunately,
that's not going to happen this offseason. So
what do the Cardinals do at this point? Do you
run it back with Jacoby Brissett for one more
year? Do you maybe hope and pray that Ty Simpson
falls out of the first round and maybe you take
him in the second round? Do you take a swing
at Kay Klupnick? Do you take a swing at maybe
Garrett Nussmeyer? Do you try to bring in a veteran
quarterback who has ties with Mike LaFleur? All
of these options should be on the table right
now for the Cardinals. Because at this point,
what you need to be aiming for is taking a quarterback
quarterback in the 27 draft class. Now I understand
that everybody said that this draft class was
supposed to be the draft class where all the
quarterbacks come out. Unfortunately, that didn't
happen. So if you're the Cardinals, you need
to figure out what can we do to at least put
a band -aid at quarterback. Even if it means
that you run it back with Jacoby Brissett for
two more years, it's not going to hurt you because
at the end of the day, it's a low risk, high
reward move. And you saw how well he worked with
Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey McBride, and Michael
Wilson. As long as Jacoby Brissett can win you
a couple more games than what you won last year,
I think that's not a problem. Because at the
end of the day, Jacoby Brissett's floor is maybe,
I don't know, the 25th to maybe the 31st best
quarterback in the league. And his ceiling is
maybe the 20th to maybe the 15th best quarterback
in the league. That's not bad because, again,
your expectations going into this next season
is very low because you're trying to get a quarterback
next year. Now, I'm not saying that you need
to go 0 -18, but you can win you a couple of
games. You can have a little bit of momentum,
just a little bit, not a whole lot. Now, with
that being said, the question we all need to
ask ourselves is stack or shed. And I would venture
to say stack, and that's mainly in part because
this team has some pieces. All they need to do
is find a franchise quarterback. Now, I'm not
trying to make it seem like finding a franchise
quarterback is like picking an apple from a tree.
And I understand that it takes some time and
a lot of homework to do that. But everybody knows
that once you find your franchise quarterback,
the roster construction process becomes a whole
lot easier. And make no mistake, this team has
some talent. You have an emerging star in Michael
Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. You have Trey
McBride, who is a top 10 tight end in the league
right now. Now with the defense, you have some
emerging stars on that side of the ball. But
all you have to do is just continue to build
this roster up. And I know it's going to take
some time. And I know fans are not happy with
it. And I understand that ownership isn't happy
with it. But building a roster takes time. This
is not an overnight thing. This is not something
that you can just snap your fingers and everything
is fixed. This requires a lot of time, especially
when you're about to go through a transition
from having a franchise quarterback to looking
for your next franchise quarterback. That is
a difficult process. There are certain teams
right now that are still going through that process
right. now. The Steelers are still trying to
find the heir to Ben Roethlisberger and have
been unsuccessful in doing it. But that's because
of other reasons, which we're not going to get
into this episode right now because this isn't
about the Steelers. It's about the Cardinals.
By hiring Michael Flora, you're bringing in somebody
who comes from a successful tree and developing
quarterbacks with Sean McVay. So we all know
that he has some foundational understanding on
how to develop a quarterback. So I think as long
as Mike LaFleur doesn't mess up the next franchise
quarterback, I think this team is going to be
in a really good spot. However, if he butchers
that move, the fan base and the organization
will never forgive him for it. Now with that
being said, when we look at their draft picks,
they have their first, their second, their third,
their fourth, their fifth, their sixth, and seventh.
Now the question is this. Should the Cardinals
address the interior offensive line or get a
right tackle? When you know that the right tackle
class is pretty good. Now, I'm not saying it's
legendary, like you're going to get the next
Trent Williams or Penesuel or whatever great
tackle that you want to list, but... I think
getting a right tackle would shore things up
a little bit more. Now, with that being said,
the one move that I would do is move on from
Kyler Murray. According to Spoltrak, if a team
trades for Kyler Murray, they're only on the
hook for guaranteed money for this year at $36
.8 million. After that, all of his other money
isn't guaranteed. By moving off of Kyler Murray,
the Cardinals are saving $34 .7 million in cap
space, but only taking on $17 .9 million in debt
cap, which isn't bad. But here's the kicker.
Kyler Murray is owed a $17 million roster bonus
on March 15th when $19 .5 million of his 27th
salary is guaranteed. So that's where things
get a little bit complicated. Now, if you're
the Cardinals, what would it take for you to
move off of Kyler Murray? Because at this point,
you can't ask for a first. or a second -round
pick. At best, you can maybe ask for maybe a
third or fourth, maybe even a fifth -round pick,
because the other team is still inheriting a
contract that most likely they're going to have
to adjust in some capacity, or they're going
to have to give him an extension to maybe lower
the cap hits to some degree. Now, if you're a
team that needs a quarterback, how high is Kyler
Murray on your list? Because outside of the veteran
quarterback options, all you have is Tua, Daniel
Jones, which we all know he's going to go back
to the Colts, and Kyler Murray. Now, sure, you
can try to see if you can pluck Mac Jones on
the 49ers, but I can tell you right now, that's
not going to be successful. And even if it is
successful, the 49ers are going to drive up his
price, and they're probably going to demand a
second round pick from Mac Jones. Are you going
to be willing to give up a second round pick
from Mac Jones, knowing that you're going to
have to pay him market value money? We all know
that the bell of the ball this year is Malik
Willis. And we all know there's only going to
be a few teams that are really going to be interested
in getting Malik Willis. And if you're Kyler
Murray, where's the best place for you? Do you
believe that if you go to the Steelers, your
play is going to be elevated? Do you believe
that if you go to the Dolphins, your play is
going to be elevated? Do you believe that if
you go to any of the places that needs a quarterback
right now, that you're going to be able to elevate
that offense and prove that you are still one
of the better quarterbacks in this league right
now and that you're more than just a bridge quarterback?
Now, the Cardinals have $44 million in cap space,
which isn't bad, but they can create more cap
space if they trade away Kyler Murray, they cut
a few people, and they restructure some deals.
Now, I don't expect the Cardinals to be big players
in free agency, but I do expect for them to make
at least one to two significant signings. After
that, they'll probably make some smaller tier
signings, maybe people that are trying to compete
for a roster spot, or players that are trying
to reunite with a coach. Now, do I expect for
them to get someone like Alec Pierce or George
Pickens or Trey Hendrickson? No. But I think
maybe that second to third tier in free agents
will be where the Cardinals make their mark at.
But I'm going to end this episode here. If you
guys like what you're listening, please, please,
please, please, please make sure you guys leave
a five -star, five -star, five -star, five -star,
five -star review on anywhere and everywhere
that you can listen to podcasts, all right? We're
available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and a few
other places. Now, if you want to access those
other places, go on Google, type in rss .com
football junkies podcast it should be the first
link when you click on that link it'll take you
to our rss .com page where you can listen to
this podcast on your online browser okay and
when you click on the listen to box it'll give
you a plethora of different places where you
can listen to this podcast on all right now you
can follow us on youtube at football junkies
pod football junkies pod now we have a link tree
in our bio when you click on that link tree it'll
take you to anywhere and everywhere that we have
football junkies content okay now make sure you
guys Like, share, subscribe, turn that notification
bell on, leave a comment down below. Let me know
your thoughts on anything and everything that
I have covered in this episode and previous episodes.
Am I right? Am I wrong? Let's talk about it,
okay? Now, for my Instagram people, football
underscore junkies pod, football underscore junkies
pod. Junkies pod is not what? It is together.
not spaced. Okay. It is together, not space football
underscore junkies pod. You can follow me on
Tik TOK at football junkies pod football junkies
pod. I got some more clips. I got a post. Just
got to give me some time. All right. Now you
can follow me on blue sky at GM kale, GM M as
in morning kale, K A I L E. All right. You can
follow me on Twitter at GM kale, GM M as in morning
K A I L E. All right. as always I hope I gave
you guys the fix that you guys need I love you
guys appreciate you guys so much stay tuned there's
more on the way and as always this is your GM
Kale signing out peace and love later guys