Arizona Cardinals: Is Tanking This Season In Play?

There’s a good chance that the Arizona Cardinals wind up with the worst record in football this year. That’s not a crystal ball prediction, just the reality of looking at a team with a franchise QB coming off an ACL injury. They’re the same team who traded their star WR in the offseason. A team looking to have the mentality to strip the team down to rebuild around the face of the franchise, Kyler Murray.

So when it comes to rebuilding and the opportunity for the highest pick in the draft, are the Arizona Cardinals looking to tank to better their odds?

Now maybe the team does feel like Josh Dobbs is the perfect stall QB while Kyler rehabs his ACL injury. If Murray has no setbacks and can come back off the PUP list, he’ll miss 4 games and still be able to salvage a season. Yet there’s no way to guarantee he’ll return or even be the same QB he was before he was injured. ACL injuries have come a long way from the career-ending injury, but I think players like RGIII will tell you the comeback is still an uphill battle.

So what about that screams “tank”? Well, nothing in the obvious sense, yet there are options to explore. First, if you’re looking to stall until a franchise QB returns from an injury, you’re typically not going with the guy who has less than 100 passing attempts in the NFL. Given the nature of the NFL, teams can fall behind division races fairly quickly.

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It wouldn’t be as obvious if the Arizona Cardinals cut Colt McCoy in favor of Josh Dobbs if his backup wasn’t a fifth-round pick Clayton Tune. Yes, the Cardinals are choosing their starting QB while Kyler Murray is out to be Josh Dobbs who has less than a month’s experience in their offense and has thrown under 100 passes in the NFL.

Sell it however you want, but there are a few veteran quarterbacks on the free-agent market who could help the Cardinals tread water. No option is perfect but Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Teddy Bridgewater, Joe Flacco, and Nick Foles are all free agents. Even if they brought them on as potential backups to Dobbs it says we have a backup plan if Dobbs isn’t as ready as we thought.

There are former Super Bowl champs in there or at the very least, quarterbacks who have playoff experience. No, the Arizona Cardinals are banking on holding out to stall until Kyler Murray comes back in a division that features the 49ers, Rams, and Seahawks. The fans deserve better and none of their front office moves make sense.

If they are tanking, why not bring in one of those free agents to bridge the gap to the next QB? Oh, that’s right. They overpaid their franchise QB and they’re not even sure he’s the guy. Maybe they figure Kyler will be the guy and they’ll create QB competition. It still doesn’t make sense to throw away the first four games of the season on a chance. An elite quarterback is the most sought-after position in the NFL. Why the Cards are gambling this big only makes sense if they’re trying to secure the first pick overall.