The NFL offseason is now underway. Each team has decisions to make as the 2018 season looms going forward.
For any real football fan, the NFL season does not end when the Super Bowl’s final whistle blows. This is a 12-month sport. Now that the Super Bowl has ended it is time for NFL teams to look forward and prepare fro next season.
Some teams have already began their overhauls. Nhe coaching carousel is under way. No bigger name jumped back into the league than Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders. Josh McDaniel and Matt Patricia will be leaving the safety of New England for their own shots at head coaching stints. Young up and coming coaches like Mike Vrabel and Matt Nagy will also get their shot to run a team.
NFL teams are hard at work scouting collegiate players preparing for the NFL draft as well. The Senior Bowl occurred a few weeks ago and next up is the annual combine in Indianapolis.
Free agency could and will reshape the league as well. A year ago we saw players like Alshon Jeffery and A.J. Bouye change teams. Those two teams were contenders for the Super Bowl, with the Eagles playing in the game. There will be similar moves this year, as there was every year previously.
Before any player is drafted or any players are signed, teams need to evaluate what they need. Here is the top need for each team going forward. Some are directed at players or positions. The rest are about scheme changes, or positional groups as well. There is always something to improve on moving forward, even for the best teams.
Arizona Cardinals: Find a quarterback
The Cardinals are entering a transition period. Quarterback Carson Palmer will no longer be with the team after announcing his retirement. In fact, they enter the 2018 offseason with no quarterback under contract.
Former coach Bruce Arians will be joining Palmer in retirement. They hired former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks as the new head coach.
For all the changes, there will be constants that the team can lean on. The defense has players that should make Wilks excited including last season’s sack leader Chandler Jones and lock down corner Patrick Peterson.
The offense is what will need work. Star running back David Johnson will be back following a Week 1 injury that kept him out the entire season. Future Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald will also be returning. Everywhere else there could be some changes, and it starts at the quarterback position.
Arizona holds the 15th pick in the first round. That could be too late to draft one of the four quarterbacks expected to land in the first round; Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. It may be too early for the second-tier guys like Mason Rudolph and Lamar Jackson. The Cardinals will face a decision, like the Texans a year ago, whether to stay put and take what the board gives them or make an aggressive play to jump into the top 10 to grab their guy. For a team with many holes, they may opt for the former.
Their limited cap space (estimated $9.5 million) will take them out of the running for the elite free agents like Kirk Cousins. They may find someone like Case Keenum or Tyrod Taylor appealing as a stop gap should they grab a developmental player later in the draft.
One thing is for sure, whoever is handing the ball to Johnson and throwing to Fitzgerald will be someone neither has played with before. Getting a quarterback is the biggest priority facing this team moving forward.