Fasten your seat belts. We are now less than 72 hours away from the beginning of the negotiating period (9 am Arizona time Monday) for NFL potential free agents in advance of the start of the 2023 league year at 1 pm (Arizona time) Wednesday. It’s obviously not “legal tampering” because since it’s allowed, it can’t be tampering. Having said that we all know there won’t be any tampering prior to Monday. Right. The bottom line is that numerous agreements will be leaked by agents prior to 1 pm Wednesday, but contracts can’t be signed and become official until then. Aside from trying to re-sign some of their own free agents, the Cardinals should be busy simply because they have…

With the Scouting Combine history, the next month will be filled with NFL personnel executives and coaches fanning out around the country for Pro Days. For the Arizona colleges, Arizona State has its Pro Day scheduled for March 27, which is also the first day of the NFL annual meeting that this year returns to the Arizona Biltmore. Arizona had a Pro Day for rising seniors on February 10 and the one for this year’s draft-eligible players will be March 16. On March 28, the day after Arizona State’s Pro Day, Northern Arizona will host its Pro Day. The 22 inches of snow still on the ground is expected to be mostly gone by then. Below is a comprehensive list…

The last two Scouting Combines have not been good ones for the Cardinals. One year ago, the opening of the Combine was highlighted by the all-caps manifesto from Erik Burkhardt, the agent for quarterback Kyler Murray. Burkhardt’s over-the-top approach came a few days after owner Michael Bidwill publicly stated the team was committed to signing Murray to a new contract, but emphasized it likely wouldn’t happen until summer. That wasn’t good enough for Burkhardt, who followed his diatribe with a handful of shots at Bidwill on social media questioning his commitment to winning. Of course, Bidwill stunned the football world within 48 hours of Burkhardt’s post by announcing general manager Steve Keim and coach Kliff Kingsbury had been signed to…

While the Arizona Cardinals continue to make headlines off the field for all the wrong reasons, the football-related news surrounding the club has also been steady here at the NFL Combine. The Jalen Carter situation, which was made public on Wednesday, was something that most teams have known for “some time,” per a source. So while it doesn’t change the fact that the former Georgia standout is under immense scrutiny, there’s a strong likelihood that general manager Monti Ossenfort was made aware of Carter’s incident prior to this week. With that being said, barring something unforeseen, I don’t see the Cardinals utilizing the third overall pick on Carter. Despite his obvious gifts, all of which would surely aid Arizona’s underwhelming…

To say the Cardinals coaching staff as it stands now is young and inexperienced is a massive understatement. However, coach Jonathan Gannon not only isn’t bothered by it, he embraces it with confidence and belief. Of course, that’s what he has to do, jumping in feet first while knowing these decisions will be crucial in how the team performs in his first opportunity as a head coach. Still, the numbers jump off the page when realizing how green the coaches are on offense and defense. After officially announcing  numerous additions to the staff this week, the nine offensive coaches total 34 seasons of NFL coaching experience while five are younger than 40 years old. On defense, eight coaches total a…

If it were only that easy. That’s the takeaway from Jonathan Gannon’s introduction to the Phoenix area Thursday morning as Cardinals coach. There’s no doubt that Gannon “won” the press conference with his energy and “JG-isms” that owner Michael Bidwill referred to. The reality, of course, is that there’s never been a game won in a press conference. Words can motivate, but they don’t win games, especially in the 17-game intense grind of an NFL season where a play here, a play there along with untimely injuries can blow up a season. Gannon arrives in the desert from Philadelphia after losing in the Super Bowl four days ago, which was the culmination of a season in which the Eagles (and Chiefs)…

It was another postcard-perfect night for the Super Bowl in Arizona. The skies were clear, the temperatures started in the 70s and ended in the 60s, Rihanna’s halftime show was eye-popping, and the game became the third in the state’s history of championship classics. Arizona does Super Bowls right. Hopefully, that will be enough to convince the NFL to keep State Farm Stadium in its regular Super Bowl rotation. Five state-of-the-start stadiums have opened in the past decade in the Bay Area, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Nevada and Los Angeles, and Nashville will have one soon. Per a spokesperson, the Valley’s organizers will continue to bid on future Super Bowls, but the competition is greater than it has ever been. Securing future…

History will be made Sunday when Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts become the first Black quarterbacks to face each other in the Super Bowl. Those two are among the 13 minority signal-callers, including Kyler Murray of the Cardinals, who opened the season as starters. During the week, Mahomes and Hurts addressed the significance of what will transpire in Super Bowl LVII. “To be on the world stage and have two Black quarterbacks start in the Super Bowl – I think it’s special and I’ve learned more and more about the history of the Black quarterback since I’ve been in this league,” Mahomes said. “And the guys that came before me and Jalen set the stage for this and now I’m…

When trades like the Kevin Durant deal occur, they ignite a city at its core.  It is rare for superstars to change teams in any manner, but especially via in-season trade. A look at Valley pro sports history reveals no more than 20 trades that could really be labeled as big, and far fewer that had a major impact. Sometimes the trades pay dividends in titles, which has only happened once in Phoenix’s dreadful male pro sports history. Sometimes they pay dividends in the form of marketing, cash, credibility or visibility. There is no debating the Suns’ preeminence in all of these departments. They made the list below four times and the four big names in those deals can all…