Last year was a complete disaster for the Arizona Cardinals. In 2021, the Cardinals finished 11-6 and made it to the Wild Card Round in the postseason, eventually falling to the Super Bowl champion and division rival Los Angeles Rams.
Coming into the 2022 regular season, Arizona was expected to continue growing with head coach Kliff Kingsbury at the helm. Quarterback Kyler Murray was on an upwards trend in terms of development, which led to a bank-breaking contract extension in July of 2022. Kingsbury had gotten his own six-year contract extension in March.
When Murray’s contract details began slipping out, the Cardinals’ season began unraveling before our very eyes. It was revealed that the franchise added an “independent study” clause in Murray’s contract, which requires the quarterback to do his own off-field studying for at least four hours per week.
The clause left a sour taste in Cardinals’ fans mouths, as it made it seem as if Murray was not fully committed to football and had to have his hand held in order to be prepared for game days.
Arizona ended up going 4-13, the fourth-worst record in the NFL. The awful performance of the team and sharp regression of Murray led to Kingsbury’s firing immediately after the season ended. General Manager Steve Keim was fired as well.
The Cardinals hired Tennessee Titans Director of Personnel Monti Ossenfort as their new GM, while Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was hand-picked as Kingsbury’s replacement.
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill (L) introduces Jonathan Gannon (center) and Monti Ossenfort (R).
2022 is in the rearview mirror
Speaking today to Darren Urban of the Arizona Cardinals official team website, Murray shed some light on what went wrong in 2022.
The whole (last) year was (expletive). The things we were doing weren’t sustainable for success. It was necessary and in turn good will come out of what happened. To hit a wall Year 4, especially after going through the whole contract thing, the energy, the aura, the vibes going into the season were all negative. I think winning cures all, and it’s been tough to do that with some of the circumstances we’ve had to deal with.
The signal-caller made it very clear that a lot was off about the whole team before last season even began. It reads like a veiled shot at Kingsbury’s coaching methods, as well as Keim’s front office decisions.
A change coming in the future?
Murray then talked about playing under a new coaching staff and learning from different viewpoints.
I’ve got to respect the person or understand the ins and outs or the rhymes and reasons for what we are doing. I’m going to listen. I’m going to be coachable and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability, but if the (expletive) ain’t working, at some point, we all have to look in the mirror.
Heading into his fifth year, the 25-year-old has a lot riding on the 2023 season. He’s still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in December. And he understands that if he doesn’t play the way he expects to consistently, then it may be time to move on from the team that drafted him.
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Marca
