A plethora of injuries probably won’t be enough to save Jonathan Gannon after the Arizona Cardinals missed the playoffs again.
Turn out the lights, the party’s over.
With a little help from Willie Nelson, former NFL quarterback and narrator Don Meredith would routinely herald closing time before it was cool on the original editions of Monday Night Football. Alas for all but one of football’s 32 finest, it’s over before the desired Vince Lombardi Trophy hoist, as the season, or at least the championship-contending portion of it, has come to an end.
With that in mind, TeamFB7 goes over the season that was for the fallen, looking at what was, what is, and what could be. The second team out was the Arizona Cardinals.
Team: Arizona Cardinals
Record: 3-12 (and counting)
Date of Playoff Death: Nov. 30
Last Playoff Appearance: 2021
What Went Wrong
In the wild, wild NFC West, the 2025 Arizona Cardinals turned out to be a mild bunch.
At the very least, it was expected that Arizona could at least keep something of a pace in the West after mustering eight wins last season to match its total from the prior two tours combined. The Cardinals lived up to their end of the bargain early, taking narrow victories over New Orleans and Carolina to start the campaign off an a relative high note.
From there, however, the Arizona injury report began to resemble a starting lineup card: Arizona was behind the eight-ball early when the defense lost both defensive backs Sean Murphy-Bunting and Starling Thomas for the season before the first football touched turf and the bottom completely fell out when their rushers (James Conner, Trey Benson, Emari Demercado) began dropping like flies. Franchise building block Marvin Harrison Jr. has been in and out of the infirmary, as have top draft picks Walter Nolen and Will Johnson.
Amid the uncertainty of who would top the depth chart every week, the Cardinals may be inching toward the uncomfortable truth that Kyler Murray has probably thrown his last pass for the franchise. Foot issues have limited Murray to five appearances this season and there’s an effective argument for the idea that the offense has looked better under the nomadic passer Jacoby Brissett.
The stacked-up losses became even more embarrassing no matter who was in the lineup: falling to playoff-bound San Francisco and Seattle were understandable, perhaps even acceptable, but a lost 21-3 lead to lowly Tennessee no doubt stands as one of the most notorious collapses in recent NFL memory.
Since returning from their bye at the start of November, a primetime win over the porous Dallas Cowboys is the only silver lining on the Arizona ledger and they’ve endured four different losses by at least three possessions. Those that have remained behind have struggled with the strong financial expectations: Calais Campbell and Josh Sweat have at least patrolled the pass rush but offseason signees Akeem Davis-Gaither and Dalvin Tomlinson have been disappointing while the regressions of projects (Darius Robinson) and franchise faces (Budda Baker) have contributed to a fall to 29th on the defensive ledgers. All that and more has raised questions about the future of head coach Jonathan Gannon, who has yet to reach in playoffs in three seasons at the helm.
Even by the notoriously cursed Cardinal standards, this early elimination proved to be embarrassing: Arizona was erased from the playoff picture on Nov. 30, the earliest exit from contention for the franchise since it made the move to the desert in 1988.
Silver Linings
Though they haven’t been immune to the injury bug that apparently resides in the Arizona locker room, Nolen and Johnson appear to be solid draft pickups. Both have plenty of work to do but they’ve impressed in their relatively limited action. Forced to take on a larger role from the get-go after the losses of Murphy-Bunting and Thomas, the fearless Johnson has flashed first-round potential after injuries at Michigan doomed him to day two. His knee issues will be worth keeping an eye on but Nolen made the most of his limited time, putting up 5 quarterback hits and tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, and fumble recovery-turned-touchdown in six showings this year.
At the risk of falling to modern memes, the Cardinals offense is broken but could be fun to fix. Provided the rushing room is able to regain a good bit of its spark, Murray’s potential successor has a good bit to work with. Third-year man Michael Wilson has enjoyed a breakout under Brissett’s supervision after never finding much chemistry with Murray while Trey McBride’s name continues to pepper the tight end chapters of the franchise and NFL record books. They might need to work on the offensive line beyond headliner Paris Johnson but capturing the offensive spark might not be a lengthy project under a new regime.
Looking Ahead
Notable Free Agents: RT Kelvin Beachum, DL Calais Campbell, RB Michael Carter, RB Emari Demercado, WR Greg Dortch, G Will Hernandez, WR Zay Jones RB Zonovan Knight, K Chad Ryland, S Jalen Thompson, OT Jonah Williams
Potential Cap Cuts: DT Dalvin Tomlinson ($9.4 million), RB James Conner ($8 million), DT Bilal Nichols ($6 million), C Hjalte Froholdt ($5.6 million), QB Jacoby Brissett ($5.4 million), G Evan Brown ($5 million)
From a roster standpoint, the Cardinals’ offseason begins and ends with the fate of Murray. They can’t release the current franchise man without incurring big dead money and cap penalties so a trade might be the way to go. The upcoming quarterback class is top-heavy and the Cardinals could be picking top five if the final hours go the way they’re supposed to go.
If they fire Gannon (who has won but two games without the would-be baseball player under center), it stands to reason that they’d rip the Band-Aid off and go for a full change. But with his success and development with the young playmakers, Brissett could worth keeping an eye on even with some cap savings attached to his release and he probably wouldn’t be the only stopgap option considered with the way the offensive line is looking.
A good bit of Arizona’s struggles come from the fact they’ve had little blocking assistance. Johnson does appear to be a hit but Beachum and Williams have been disappointing while Hernandez has, again, succumbed to injuries on numerous occasions. The Cardinals have gone the defensive investment route in the past so maybe a change of offseason pace would be the best path forward, especially if they’re going to immediately go with a long-term franchise man.
Is There Hope?
At this time last year, the Cardinals were lingering in the chase for a playoff spot before they fell to a rebuilding Carolina group that has sent them into a bit of a tailspin. Combine that with the numerous medical asterisks and there’s plenty of reasons to believe that the Cardinals are not as far off as a quick glance at the standings suggests.
Ultimately, this offseason will likely be defined by how they answer the question marks that reside in the two presumptive vacancies in the game: franchise quarterback and head coach. Closing the book on both the Gannon and Murray situations may be the way to go but the action will mean nothing if they don’t get this right. Only adding to the Cardinals’ plight is the fact they’re competing in the extraordinarily explosive NFC West.
Arizona can either fly with their fellow left coasters or lose even more ground. This offseason will decide which category they’re destined to nest in.
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