Arizona Cardinals In Power Position to Ignore Complaints From Former Players

Arizona Cardinals In Power Position to Ignore Complaints From Former Players

the Arizona Cardinals can finally fade the noise when it comes to past players what do I mean let’s discuss you are Locked On Cardinals your daily Arizona Cardinals podcast part of the locked on podcast network your team every day on Cardinals Alex Clancy here follow me on Twitter clancy’s corner follow the podcast at Locked on a Cards thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen free wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day please go to the YouTube channel search Lockown Arizona Cardinals hit that subscribe button man turn notifications on 15 years in sports media in Phoenix this is my ninth season hosting this lovely show every day thanks for hanging out thanks for being here some since day one uh this is your first listen to Lockdown Cardinals thank you um maybe make the rest of this week part of your routine by watching me spew things out of my big dumb face um Walter Nolan spoke to the media earlier this morning he had one very interesting thing to say that I’ll discuss in the final segment what is Jaylen Thompson’s future now this seems like a secondary or tertiary thing that needs to be discussed but it’s a lot more important than that and then finally or primarily fading the noise let’s just get into this now so what you I everybody in between has experienced over the last decade maybe a little bit more um at least it’s been more pronounced it could be recency bias sure but it’s really been over the last 10 years is like players leave then they just start to talk crap about the Cardinals players leave then they just start to talk crap about the Cardinals it’s the It’s the front office it’s how things are run it’s the coaching staff it’s It’s the play style it’s whatever it is death taxes players talking crap about the Arizona Cardinals organization when they leave now you’re omitting Kus Campbell from this klayas Campbell may be the nicest most level-headed person on planet Earth so we’re kind of taking him away from this even though he was lowballed by Steve Michael Bidwell and he went and got his cheese multiple spots after four spots to be exact jacksonville Baltimore Atlanta in Miami uh now coming home uh so you kind of removed him from that the the biggest name and this isn’t somebody that I just hammer on because but Patrick Peterson just went scorched earth on this team did it with his podcast with Brian McFad and his cousin uh who was also an Arizona Cardinal and or who yeah who was an Arizona Cardinal um there was some I think that like there was some tie to Antonio Brown and Brian McFaten i don’t know what it was i don’t know if like the Cardinals giving a pick to Pittsburgh that ended up being Antonio Brown i can’t remember but I think there’s a direct title i I talked to Bryant years ago a good dude but he and Patrick Peterson um have a podcast and Patrick Peterson just went scorched earth on the Cardinals namely about Steve Kim and then now coming back home like a you know a puppy with his tail between his legs like Ring of Honor Love Arizona blahy blahy blah it’s like okay I understand the problem with Steve Kim and I also understand that you acted and again this is not a direct personal attack on Patrick Peterson the person philanthropic nice guy that’s not it the avatar of a of a professional athlete who acts like this that’s the attack he comes back it’s like nothing happened it’s like well the problem is and the problem has been that that’s kind of common place and even more so a lot of it is warranted maybe not the way that it’s packaged together and spew spew strewn and spewed spew across the the interwebs not the best but the message wasn’t inaccurate so now there’s a couple things that have happened one of course new head coach new GM new coaching staff kind of new new culture um and also the players who are chirping now aren’t any sort of important and this isn’t a direct attack on the players whatsoever uh namely I will talk about Marco Wilson Isaiah Simmons most recently I read an article uh by Donnie Drew Sports Illustrated front of the show who uh highlighted some Isaiah Simmons comments now with Green Bay uh about how he wasn’t used properly um which is true during his during his time here uh 2021 2020 2021 and 2022 then got traded uh like late August I think it was the 24th 25th of August right before the 2023 season um he wasn’t used properly blahy blah and then Marco Wilson bless his heart has not stopped talking about the Cardinals ever since they let him go so you kind of see you go from like Patrick Peterson to guys who are struggling to make rosters that tells me two things one the Cardinals are self-editing well and two good players aren’t leaving the good players the Cardinals have don’t leave and that’s been very new okay obviously since 2023 very new i mean Buddha Baker got his contract like little bump up and then his full extension james Connor got an extension and then another extension like those are the two main dudes who could be elsewhere and neither of them would talk crap about the organization first of all it’s not the kind of people they are and two they really have no reason to but you’re starting to see this is another like tangential outcome byproduct of doing things the right way fade the noise who cares keep chirping dude you’re on what your third team you were with the Giants for a year a year and a half that didn’t work so maybe it’s not all Cardinals did they misuse Isaiah Simmons a million% and also due diligence done by Jonathan Ganon and Nick Rales for an entire offseason cycle before trading him so that’s got to tell you enough to where it’s like it doesn’t matter like the scheme thing it didn’t fit the scheme what is Jonathan Ganon’s scheme insanity wizardry magic they put the best players on the field in any given down that would give them a leg up on the opposing offenses scheme in an effort to allow those 11 players to do the one or two things they are excellent at and that’s why when I talk about Jordan Burch it’s like yeah maybe he’s not the maybe he’s not going to be the best pass rusher in the world but you know that he’s violent and he can bull rush better than many in this class and you bet your bottom dollar that Jonathan gets is going to figure out a way to make that happen so fading the noise is something where it’s like yeah again not an uncommon story not just for the Cardinals just in general and also Isaiah Simmons was was misused by the last regime with Vance Joseph where he was with like nine position groups it was insane and also he didn’t do nearly enough when given the opportunity to actually play at an NFL level and it’s not his fault he probably shouldn’t have been drafted by the Cardinals that should have been Tristan Wors or CD Lamb like we know this we’ve done it all over over and over and over again but you’re able to just go get just Okay I’m sorry that you’re upset that you didn’t play well enough to stay with the Arizona Cardinals jonathan Ganon Nicarawis and Montour did a full offseason cycle with Isaiah Simmons before trading him right before week one so they did their due diligence they minded their P’s and Q’s and they said “You know what ain’t going to happen.” So it’s a small shift but it’s nevertheless a shift all’s quiet because all of the good players the Cardinals have had they’re still Arizona Cardinals that is a massive change and every situation’s different patrick Peterson’s situation is different he was a little bit older he wanted more money than they wanted to give him etc he was also done he went to you know he went to Minnesota then and then he went to then he went to Pittsburgh like but Patrick Peterson’s a Hall of Famer marco Wilson Isaiah Simmons and you can just look at this when things are printed they’re talking about their last teams it’s like good good riddens the Cardinals self-editing their roster not being like forcing it oh he was the eighth overall pick you got to make it work no doesn’t work see it it’s a shift very little incremental things are being done differently than in years past with different outcomes most of which have the Cardinals in the power position no no matter how big or small and I always you know go back and forth about well you can compare the Cardinals to other organizations with this you can’t with others we’ve talked about this a lot like this one you can’t this is their own journey it’s like well look at how great Baltimore is doing yeah okay you can’t compare the Cardinals in Baltimore right now you just can’t you just can’t but what they’re doing what they can control they’re controlling in a much more levelheaded and methodical way and correct way more times than not you’re always going to get chirps from a from previous players but the Arizona Cardinals are finally in a place where they can fade the noise and just you know hone in on the on the task at hand which is winning 10 plus games and make the playoffs in 2025 and beyond lonardo is your team every day what’s Jaylen Thompson’s future with the team it’s a fascinating topic not sure that inflection talk about it next this episode of Lockdown Cardinals is brought to you by the Game Time app there’s nothing like the NBA playoffs man the intensity buzzer beaters fans losing their minds it’s the kind of atmosphere you must experience live and this year’s matchups have been insane the NBA playoffs have been insane dude they’ve been insane we’ve got game five tonight if you want in game time makes it easy and you know to get seeds even for the biggest playoff games prices on the app actually drop closer to tip off and with killer last minute deals panoramic seed views and no surprise fees game time is a total game changer say you’re a Pacers fan and you want to fly out to OKC get last minute tickets today you can do it on the Game Time app if you’re like “Hey listen i I don’t want to spend that much,” which is fine you know tickets are expensive sometimes i want to see what my vantage point’s going to be though before I buy the tickets and fly out there drive out there whatever it is they’ve got those seat views you click on the section in the row and it’ll show you a panoramic view of what you’re going to see from those seats before you buy them it’s absolutely insane take the guesswork of buying tickets with game time tell the game time app create an account use code locked in NFL for 20 bucks off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code L c NFL for 20 bucks off download Game Time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed please go to YouTube channel locked in Arizona Cardinal hit that subscribe button man turn notifications on you know the drill um so Jaylen Thompson it’s a it’s a fascinating situation because like the dude’s been great the dude’s been great you know like another like I’ll give Steve K credit for a couple picks over his you know 10 years a tenure Buddha Baker is always number one he’s always number one because they moved up to get him top of the second round ahead of Seattle in 2017 they saw the guy they wanted they went up and they got him and they were right okay that’s the only time that’s happened like truly moving up getting somebody and it working lot more Josh Rosans than Buddha Bakers but Jaylen Thompson was drafted in in the fourth round of the supplemental draft i think it was the year after out of from out of Washington State dude’s been great like truly he’s been great he’s been making pennies on the dollar from what he could be making elsewhere and he got through the injury stuff early in his career he’s missed spot games here and there but he’s been great he’s been a great strong safety compliment to uh Buddha Baker he’s a great open field tackler he hits really hard he’s pretty good in coverage if they drop him down towards the line of scrimmage like he’s been great especially for the money okay oh and the Trey McBride one like that’s what I get that’s what I get when I when I say that thing about Steve Kim there is no rational world where Steve Kim should have drafted a tight end there he got lucky okay he got absolutely lucky they needed pass rush and offensive line they traded for a wide receiver in the first round and then drafted a tight end in the second round okay he got lucky you give him zero credit for that zero points you do not pass go and may God have mercy on your soul i went like Monopoly and Billy Madison there spewing about as it were and we’re back so you give no credit for that zero that was a luck box pick and it’s great for the Cardinals and it’s fantastic you look at his track record he’s not smart enough to make that pick in the second round let’s be honest okay anyways Jaylen Thompson’s been great okay he’s been exactly what you need as a set and forget 1A to Buddha Baker buddha Baker is not who he is today without Jaylen Thompson and it’s not like a Michael Jordan Scotty Pippen thing there’s a gap there it’s not like one A that way or you know A+ and B+ like like Scotty and like Scotty and U and Jordan were and I’m not comparing Buddha Baker to Michael Jordan the greatest player okay but it’s it’s just an example now with that I’ll get ahead of this now i mentioned like if the Cardinals wanted to move up in the draft at any point and you want to offer Jaylen Thompson as a piece plus the pick that would have been a different conversation um and now that that didn’t happen I’m not saying that like they 100% should happen but now that he’s an Arizona Cardinal still wearing 34 on game day and now that you’ve got Drian Keller Demerson who’s waiting in the wings but like we saw with Rabbit last year and with Trey Benson last year that doesn’t mean that Buddha Baker and James Connor are gone i’m sorry that this is difficult to compute for some people this is why I try to just ring people like think for yourself just think oh they drafted that position so that means that player is gone next year because I’m smart and that’s what the best ped look think so we didn’t see that and the antithesis of that happened where both um both Buddha Baker and James Connor are still here okay now they do have an out in the contract d Capit will be 10 mil if he’s signed the the cap hit will be 13 so negligible i think it’s a mistake to move off Jaylen Thompson now i don’t think that they need a roster spot so bad that they’d cut him his production while he didn’t have his best year last year this isn’t a DJ Humphre drop off from what was it 2022 to 2023 it wasn’t that like DJ Humphre lost a massive step quickly jaylen Thompson hasn’t and they do like to play three safeties on the field at times like this is something that say Buddha Baker were to get hurt i not going to obviously this is my disclaimer yeah you don’t want anybody to get hurt let alone you know somebody that you watch cover whatever it is uh you don’t want your worst enemy to get hurt if you want people to get hurt you’re you’ve got problems jaylen Thompson Buddha Baker Daydream Taylor Demerson if one of them were to get injured you’ve got your safety net this is a power position the Cardinals are in in that position group and he’s a great mentor for the for the young DBs too like Jaylen Thompson is an Arizona Cardinal jaylen Thompson Buddha Baker James Connor Kyler Murray Trey McBride like he’s Jaylen Thomas has been here for seven years six years he’s an Arizona Cardinal dude like I’m not moving off from him if they were to able if they were thinking about making some sort of drastic move in the draft and packaging him with a pick to move up eight or 10 spots yeah we’re having a different conversation of course but now that that didn’t happen and I’m think it’s a good thing they need all hands on deck in that secondary in 2025 because just like the offensive line the locomotive cannot stop if injuries happen there’s no more room for error and there wasn’t like room for error before where it’s like “Oh it’ll be fine it’s a five-year plan.” No no no like this is they’re here they’re like “This is the beginning of either the beginning or the beginning of the end for many things we’re going to find out in 2025 what the hell’s going on.” And it’s going to be sweet and it’s going to be awesome and Jaylen Thompson wearing number 34 on game day should 100% be in 2025 and then you get to have the fun conversation on if 2026 is in the cards and then he’s unrestricted free agent after that you extend him two years you keep him in there’s no rush with this defense it’s like okay Dent Teller Dmerson now it’s a second year out of Texas Tech he showed flashes last year of being a Jaylen Thompson like doppelganger he’s like a perfect mix of of Jaylen Thompson and Buddha Baker but just even if he does take that step and Jaylen Thompson still plays well this year that doesn’t mean you got to move off from him you could have that three-headed monster over the top for the next three years there is no rush and that’s why I think it’s perfect litmus test see what’s going on no need to sign a contract no need to do any of that and see what you got lockdown Cardinals your team every day you know what you got with the rookies they are one bonafide unit as training camp is in full swing i’ll discuss next lock on Cardinals your team every day you know when it comes to when it comes to the rookies in my you know decade and a half doing this I don’t know if I’ve ever seen something even close in the same zip code as how good the rookies have with roster construction outside of them for the Cardinals the one thing that we used to you know kind of look at and you know discuss when it came to this roster was you don’t want rookies to have to save a position group that’s something I’ve discussed and then a couple years ago it was like well you know now every rookie kind of has a buddy in the position group you know Garrett Williams has Buddha Baker which is not the same but Garrett Williams had Buddha Baker um Paris Johnson Jr.’s got his dudes across the line um but it was kind of it was still kind of reaching it was still kind of reaching because there weren’t dudes at pretty much every position to be able to you know would be the veteran rookie buddy system and now you’ve got it everywhere you’ve got it everywhere the offensive line’s kind of a mishmash i mean with Isaiah Adams um you know he’s got his dudes they’ve got everybody everybody’s there john Williams Yaltta and Paris like they’ve got it’s just a family you know the pass rush room and the defensive like just like the defensive front you’re loaded joshua Dvin Thomas Kas Campbell I mean give me a break give me a break and you’ve got Darius Robinson and DJ Ojelari coming into their second and third year respectively even though it’s technically even though it’s really like their first and second year and you’ve got Jordan Burch like those guys are gonna be fine they’re going to learn so much more efficiently during their rookie and during their rookie season than what Arizona Cardinals rookies used to have to deal with i mean even Cody Simon having having M wilson next Mac’s not an allp pro but he’s been very good since being an Arizona Cardinal and then now you have Garrett Williams to be able to handle that role with Max Melton which which he did last year and then Will Johnson coming in and then you’ve got Rabbit with with Bud and Jaylen Thompson over the top like and you’ve got you know James Connor is still able to help with Trey Benson and then the wide receiver room is a wide receiver room and you got Jacobe Brassette coming in to be with Kyler like this is the next iteration of what Colt McCoy was able to do for Kyler and I know Kyler this He’s been in the league closer to a decade than not now so I know it’s not like well how much mentoring do you need having Jacobe Brassette who has not the same skill set as Kyler but a lot closer than Colt McCoy it’s going to allow to add a wrinkle into this situation that will only benefit Kyler Murray and then you have a guy say Kyle would miss time knock on wood you’ve got a guy who has proven he can win games he’s the perfect quintessential new age backup where he can run too as well he’s not a runner by any stretch but he can run over a corner if he needs to and you’ve got your guy for for short yardage situation that isn’t Clayton Ton so when Walter Nolan stepped to the podium today sorry went just huge wind up there when Walter Nolan stepped to the podium today he was asked and he said something to the effect of this rookie group is a unit we see it as one unit and the fact that they’ve got so much veteran leadership proven top flight veteran leadership in almost every position group that you’ve got a rookie at another little wrinkle of things when you start to see what compound interest looks like when you build things the right way year-over-year and again we have no idea what’s going to happen and again this is the best roster and the deepest roster based on proven and future pacing we’ve seen the last 20 years truly top to bottom now the top may not be the top of what it was like with Fitz and Anquin Balden you know with Darnell and and Carlos Danby when he was a stud and Patrick Peterson when he was a rookie you know rookie first five seven years like but that was so topheavy even with BA it’s like okay so you bring in a 35-year-old Carson Palmer you bring in Chris Johnson off the trash heap and he ends up leading the league in rushing until he got hurt then David Johnson took over for 15 minutes and then you know but you got John Brown JJ Nelson like these aren’t like world beating wide receivers but the tiptop guys were like all pro this while the top is lower for sure the floor is exponentially higher and that’s what 2025 is about i’ve said it and I will continue to say it and I will proverbally tattoo it on my forehead 2025 is about raising the floor not reaching the ceiling lockdown Cardinal your team every day remember without you there is no me i’ll talk to you on Wednesday

Join host Alex Clancy as he dissects the Arizona Cardinals’ remarkable transformation in this eye-opening episode. Once the target of harsh criticism from former players, the Cardinals have silenced doubters and emerged as serious contenders. Clancy explores the team’s journey, analyzing key factors behind their resurgence and pondering their playoff prospects.

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into Jalen Thompson’s pivotal role in strengthening the Cardinals’ secondary. Alex examines how Thompson’s performance has elevated the entire defensive unit and discusses the ripple effects on team morale and strategy.

Next, the podcast shines a spotlight on the Cardinals’ veteran leadership. Alex breaks down how seasoned players are mentoring rookies, fostering a culture of excellence, and accelerating the team’s development. He provides concrete examples of this mentorship in action and its impact on game outcomes.

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to head coach Jonathan Gannon’s innovative tactics. Clancy analyzes how Gannon’s approach is not just winning games but reshaping perceptions across the NFL. He explores specific plays and strategies that have caught opponents off guard and turned the tide in crucial moments.

The discussion then shifts to the Cardinals’ roster construction. Clancy offers insights into the front office’s philosophy, highlighting key acquisitions and draft picks that have contributed to the team’s success. He also speculates on potential moves to further strengthen the squad.

Looking ahead, the podcast examines the challenges awaiting the Cardinals. Alex breaks down upcoming matchups, discussing how the team’s newfound strengths might fare against different opponents. He also considers potential obstacles that could derail their playoff aspirations.

The episode concludes with a forward-looking segment on the Cardinals’ long-term strategy. Alex explores the team’s plans to elevate their performance floor in 2025 and beyond, discussing potential roster moves, coaching adjustments, and organizational changes that could cement the Cardinals’ status as perennial contenders.

Throughout the episode, Alex interweaves statistical analysis, insider information, and expert opinions to provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the Cardinals’ transformation. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a casual observer, this podcast offers valuable insights into one of the NFL’s most intriguing success stories.

Don’t miss this in-depth exploration of the Arizona Cardinals’ journey from underdogs to potential playoff powerhouses. Will their revamped approach translate to double-digit wins and a postseason berth? Tune in to find out! Let’s discuss.

The Best Daily Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Host Alex Clancy (@ClancysCorner) take an unbiased approach covering the biggest Cards stories.

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