This started out innocently enough as the third installment of our “Countdown to the 2026 NFL Draft” series, looking at each team’s most pressing needs and how they could best address them next month. Up next was the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 3 overall pick.
Before breaking down the Cardinals’ roster, though, it felt necessary to shine the spotlight first on the man who will be making that draft pick.
In doing that, well, it felt pertinent to make the point that Monti Ossenfort might just be the worst general manager in the NFL. (We see you too, Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry, we see you.)
Of course, in making such a charged statement, it only felt right to make an expounded case for why we’d lob such damning declaration.
And expound we sure did.
Thus, we’ll get to the Cardinals’ draft needs and our recommendation for how they should use that No. 3 overall pick very soon.
But Ossenfort deserved his own column here.
He probably didn’t deserve to make a second head coach hiring as Cardinals general manager or continue making franchise-shaping decisions into free agency and the draft, but as it became clear through the preponderance of supporting evidence, he deserved his day in the court of public opinion.
Again, we’re not letting the Brown’s Berry off the hook — the Deshaun Watson trade alone might be enough to earn him the top spot — and we promise to give him his time under the microscope when we get to the Browns’ draft picture soon. But it’s the consistency of Ossenfort’s follies that put him squarely in contention for the dubious distinction of NFL’s worst GM.
Let’s begin …
Cardinals Worse Than When Monti Ossenfort Took Over
First, Ossenfort seems like a solid person. He’d probably even be fun company at St. Elmo Steakhouse in Indianapolis while enjoying their famous shrimp cocktail after a long day at the NFL Scouting Combine. This isn’t personal.
But the reality is, he’s been the Cardinals’ GM for three years now, and in that time the team has gone 15-36 while finishing fourth, third and fourth in the NFC West — and the franchise is in far worse shape now than when he arrived. And it’s not hard to see why.
The Cardinals had been viewed as a team on the rise after winning 11 games in 2021 and making the playoffs in coach Kliff Kingsbury’s third season. But star quarterback Kyler Murray tore his ACL with the team off to a 4-8 start the next season, and the Kingsbury Era never recovered. He was fired after a 4-13 finish that year, and Ossenfort replaced Steve Keim as general manager in time to hire the next head coach.
But this wasn’t a franchise at rock bottom at that point — it may well be there now, but not that that point.
For his first big move, Ossenfort made the most uninspiring head coach hire of that 2023 offseason in then-Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
We’ve hammered this one enough in other columns, but Gannon was an underwhelming choice in the moment. He had been the Eagles’ DC for all of two seasons and a primary position coach in the league for only three years before that.
He took over a middle-of-the-pack Eagles defense. In his first season in 2021, the unit performed generally the same, ranking 10th in total defense and 18th in scoring defense. In his second season, the Eagles moved up to 8th in total defense and tied for 7th in scoring defense.
That 2022 Eagles team reached the Super Bowl and held its first two playoff opponents, the Giants and 49ers, to 7 points each before losing 38-35 to the Chiefs in the Big Game. Gannon did a fine enough job in the position, but he didn’t exactly transform the Eagles into a defensive juggernaut. It should also be noted that Philadelphia had a top 3 offense in the NFL that year that was the biggest factor in their success.
Not only did Ossenfort go all in on Gannon as if he was the reason the Eagles reached the Super Bowl, but he violated the league’s anti-tampering policy by having a call with Gannon in the days after the NFC championship game before teams were officially allowed to contact such coaches about other jobs. The Cardinals were penalized in draft capital, having to swap the No. 66 pick in that 2023 NFL Draft for the Eagles’ No. 94 selection and a 2024 fifth-round pick.
Already, Ossenfort was leaving his mark on Arizona’s draft classes.
Anyways, Gannon went viral in a clip the Cardinals’ own social media folks posted of one of his first addresses to the team. It showed the new head coach to have all the motivational charisma of a calculus professor, and in hindsight, put it all together and was it really surprising to anyone other than Ossenfort that Gannon went 5-19 over the final 24 games of his tenure (with a defense that ranked 28th in yards allowed and 29th in scoring in his last year)?
Anyways, Ossenfort was kept on to fire Gannon and take a second swing at hiring a head coach.
He landed on Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur this time. LaFleur, the younger brother of Packers coach Matt LeFleur, failed as the Jets’ offensive coordinator from 2021-22 (albeit in a tough spot) and then walked into the best situation imaginable as Rams OC the last three seasons under offensive-minded head coach Sean McVay.
Yes, the Rams were elite offensively these last three seasons. But is that because of LeFleur? Or maybe — hear us out — maybe because the team had QB Matthew Stafford, one of the best WR combos in the league this past season in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, a strong rushing attack led by Kyren Williams and the reality that all of McVay’s teams have been pretty good offensively regardless of coordinator.
How has it gone all these years for teams hiring Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinators or Andy Reid’s offensive coordinators as head coaches? Indeed.
So we found that hire equally lackluster, but time will deliver the ultimate verdict and maybe LeFleur proves himself on his own.
Ossenfort’s Own Hiring In Arizona Was Uninspiring
While we’re at it, though, Ossenfort’s own hiring in Arizona was every bit as uninspiring.
He worked his way up as a scout with the Texans and Patriots, eventually becoming New England’s director of college scouting in 2014. Again, association with greatness is one thing, but the Patriots were actually notoriously bad in the draft late in Belichick’s tenure, which is widely recognized as a key factor in his ultimate undoing once QB Tom Brady left and the roster fell apart.
Ossenfort wouldn’t have had the final say on those picks, but as the director of college scouting he would surely have had real influence. And if he gets credit for being part of a Super Bowl-winning organization, he can share in the blame for draft picks that ostensibly would be the product of “college scouting.” Fair?
These are the players the Patriots selected in the top two rounds of those drafts from 2014-19 when Ossenfort was in that role: DT Dominique Easley (No. 29) and QB Jimmy Garoppolo (No. 62) in 2014; DT Malcom Brown (No. 32) and S Jordan Richards (No. 64) in 2015; CB Cyrus Jones (No. 60) in 2016; no pick in first two rounds in 2017; OT Isaiah Wynn (No. 23 ), RB Sony Michel (No. 31) and CB Duke Dawson (No. 56) in 2018; and WR N’Keal Harry (No. 32) and CB Joejuan Williams (No. 45) in 2019.
Of that group, Garoppolo was the best pick, Brown at least started four seasons for the team before wrapping up his seven-year NFL career elsewhere and Wynn was a starter but managed one almost-fully-healthy season in four years with the Pats and was out of the league two years later.
Meanwhile, Michel was a middling running back for 2.5 seasons with the team while famously being drafted four picks ahead of his much more successful Georgia backfield mate Nick Chubb. And the rest of that group were absolute busts.
Did the Patriots hit on some later-round picks in those drafts? Sure, but first and second-round picks are gold in the NFL and those Patriots teams, with Ossenfort in charge of college scouting, had a legendary run of futility.
For that, Ossenfort was hired as the Titans’ director of player personnel in 2020 by general manager Jon Robinson.
The team made the playoffs twice in his three years there (with Vrabel as head coach), so give Ossenfort whatever share of credit you feel he deserves there, but the beginning of the end of the Vrabel tenure also started in that stretch, including the much-criticized trade to send star WR A.J. Brown to the Eagles for the 18th pick in the 2022 draft — which was then wasted on WR Treylon Burks, a total bust — and a third-round pick.
Again, hard to know what role Ossenfort played in either the good or bad of that Tennessee stretch, but that’s not really the point — the point is what in that resume screamed “This guy need to be a general manager pronto!”?
Examining Monti Ossenfort’s Cardinals Draft Picks
Well, Ossenfort wasted no time making an impact in Arizona, trading the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 draft (along with No. 105) to the Texans for the No. 12 and No. 33 picks and a first- and third-round pick in 2024.
With that No. 3 pick, Houston selected edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., who is now one of the elite defensive players in the NFL and a major reason the Texans have built one of the league’s top defenses and transformed their franchise. Whoops.
It gets better.
The Cardinals then traded that 12th pick and their own No. 34 pick (along with No. 168) to the Lions to move back up in the draft to No. 6 and select offensive tackle Paris Johnson (while also receiving the No. 81 pick from Detroit).
Johnson has been a solid-enough starting left tackle the last three seasons. PFF ranked him 20th out of 89 qualifying OTs in 2025.
But he’s no Will Anderson Jr. And also no Jahmyr Gibbs, the elite game-breaking running back the Lions took with that No. 12 pick.
Let’s just recap that deal.
The players taken at No. 3 and No. 12 in the 2023 draft, picks Ossenfort’s Cardinals held at various points, have combined for five Pro Bowl selections, a Defensive Rookie of the Year award, a top-5 finish for Offensive Rookie of the Year and a runner-up this past season for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Campbell has been a fine left tackle.
Not a bad pick on its own, but the “what if”s on that one have to be traumatic for Cardinals fans.
As for that No. 33 pick in 2023 the Cardinals received from the Texans, they traded that to the Titans for picks No. 41 and No. 72 and 2024 third-round pick. At No. 41, Arizona took outside linebacker B.J. Ojulari, who has yet to start a game for the team but had 4 sacks as a rookie before missing 2024 and part of 2025 with a torn ACL. At No. 72, they took cornerback Garrett Williams, who was a three-year starter before tearing his Achilles late last year. Some bad luck on those two for sure, but also not a good return for the No. 33 pick regardless.
We’re happy to point out the good as well, though. Ossenfort had a better finish to that draft, landing a fourth-round steal in WR Michael Wilson (78 catches for 1,006 yards and 7 TDs in a breakout 2025) and getting good value on useful sixth-round DT Dante Stills (8 sacks his first two seasons before moving to a reserve role last year).
Ossenfort and the Cardinals then had seven picks in the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. Nobody could fault them for taking WR Marvin Harrison Jr. No. 4 overall even if he hasn’t played up to expectations yet.
The rest from that bunch have been serviceable at best, underwhelming or injured, though, with DL Darius Robinson (No. 27), DB Max Melton (No. 43), RB Trey Benson (No. 66), OL Isaiah Adams (No. 71), TE Tip Reiman (No. 82) and DB Elijah Jones (No. 90). Not a difference-maker in the lot unless Benson comes back healthy from a season-ending knee injury and breaks out.
And in the first three rounds of the 2025 draft, the Cardinals took DT Walter Nolen at No. 16 overall (limited to just 6 games by injuries), CB Will Johnson at No. 47 (a worthwhile gamble on a player once projected a surefire first-round pick before injury concerns; limited to 12 games while playing decently as a rookie) and DE Jordan Burch at No. 78 (a rotational role player as a rookie).
The best return the Cardinals got from the last draft was fifth-round CB Denzel Burke, who had 3 INTs and 11 passes defended while starting only half the season.
All in all, Ossenfort has had three draft classes so far to rebuild the Cardinals and they’re arguably worse off than when he took over. He’s had a couple nice mid-round hits (Wilson and Burke), a couple solid but not top-tier first-round picks (Johnson and Harrison), a lot of busts, bad injury fate and some wait-and-sees.
His work in free agency hasn’t been any better.
Examining Ossenfort’s Free Agency Failings In Arizona
Without getting deep into the weeds on it, let’s just look at the players Ossenfort has signed for contracts with an average annual value of $7 million or more (per Spotrac.com).
2023: None
2024: DT Justin Jones (3 years, $31.165 million with $26.75 million guaranteed), RT Jonah Williams (2 years, $30 million with $21.5 million guaranteed), CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (3 years, $25.5 million with $17.39 million guaranteed) and DL Bilal Nichols (3 years, $21 million with $14.39 million guaranteed).
All busts for one reason or another.
– Previously a reliable starter for the Chargers and Bears, Jones totaled 4 tackles and a fumble recovery in three games for the Cardinals before a torn triceps ended his 2024 season. A knee injury put him on injured reserve to start the 2025 season and he was ultimately waived that December, never playing another game for the team. The cost per tackle there is incredible.
– A four-year starter for the Bengals, Williams has played in just 15 games over two seasons and is now a free agent. PFF ranked him No. 75 out of 89 qualifying offensive tackles last season.
– Murphy-Bunting had 52 tackles, 3 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles in 2024, then missed all of 2025 after being played on the reserve/non-football injury list. He agreed to restructure his contract to return to the team in 2026.
– Nichols played just 10 games in two seasons for the team due to injuries and was released in March after turning that contract into 13 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 0 sacks.
2025: EDGE Josh Sweat (4 years, $76.4 million with $38 million guaranteed) and DT Dalvin Tomlinson (2 years, $29 million with $15.5 million guaranteed).
– Sweat delivered as hoped in coming over from the Super Bowl champion Eagles, notching a career-high 12 sacks and 4 forced fumbles last season. Score one for Monti!
– A veteran journeyman who never really put up many counting stats in his career, Tomlinson contributed 26 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 1 sack in 17 games for the Cardinals, was released in March and signed with the Chargers. PFF ranked him 120 out of 134 qualifying DTs last season. Oh, Monti ..
2026: OG Isaac Seumalo (3 years, $31.5 million with $19 million guaranteed).
– A 10-year NFL veteran with the Eagles and Steelers, Seumalo was ranked 12th out of 81 qualifying OGs by PFF last season.
So far, Ossenfort is 1 for 6 on high-priced free agent signings not counting Seumalo, which seems to align with his batting average in the draft too.
The Kyler Murray Debacle
Before we let Ossenfort off the hook for now, we have to close with the Murray matter.
Ossenfort wasn’t in Arizona when Murray signed his 5-year, $235-million extension in July of 2022 (with $160 million guaranteed).
But he made the decision to part ways with the expensive quarterback, even though the Cardinals would be on the hook for $36.8 million guaranteed to Murray regardless. He would have been guaranteed another $19.5 million for 2027 if he was still on the roster March 16, so there is that.
But Murray was hardly the overwhelming factor in the Cardinals’ struggles. Maybe he wasn’t the answer either, but is it not telling that the Vikings — a legit contender needing only an upgrade at QB — wasted nary a second targeting Murray as the answer to its problems?
Minnesota gets the best free agent quarterback on the veteran’s minimum while Arizona pays him to play for another team. The 2027 money aside, that doesn’t make a ton of sense.
Especially when the Cardinals just hired an offensive-minded head coach. Since they’re paying Murray regardless, wouldn’t have at least made sense to see if LeFleur could unlock more of his potential than the dysfunction of the Gannon regime?
Especially when this is an incredibly weak quarterback draft class, where many NFL analysts are only sure there is one legit NFL starting QB in the draft pool — Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who is going No. 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Cardinals did sign journeyman backup Gardner Minshew to maybe put a challenge into returning QB Jacoby Brissett, though. Get your popcorn, Cardinals fans!
Maybe Arizona will move around in the draft and take a shot at Alabama QB Ty Simpson, who is considered the second-best QB in the draft pool but unlikely to go anywhere near the top 10.
Either way, the Cardinals presently have no franchise quarterback … a new head coach who has yet to ever establish his own NFL success outside of coaching under an elite offensive mind with a loaded roster that was good before he got there and will be good after he left … and a general manager who has consistently struggled to manage both the draft and free agency.
The prosecution rests.
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