Cardinals’ Combine Chatter

Here are some between-the-lines guesses

Yesterday on X, I posted this tweet:

Here is what we fans can take for certain while listening to GMs and HCs at the Combine talk about their teams, draft plans and their players:

1. They are not going to give away their draft plans.
2. They are going to ‘talk up” their current players, whether they actually intend to keep them for the upcoming season, or not.
3. They are not going to gush about any outside free agents, especially those who appear to have ties with the team’s GM and/or any of the coaches.

All this said, for right or for wrong, here is what I deciphered from what I saw and heard from Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon:

1. There is a genuine interest in providing TE Trey McBride with a lucrative contract extension that should make him one of the highest paid TEs in the NFL. Per Monti:

2. They way that Michael Bidwill, Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon have heaped the highest of praise on Kyler Murray this off-season, suggests (at least to me) that if teams call to inquire about trade scenarios and possibilities, they would be willing and perhaps even eager to listen.

On Bickley and Marotta, Bidwill recently referred to Kyler as “a great quarterback.” Jonathan Gannon said:

If a HC is going to hype his QB, this is how you do it. Because either way, if they hold on to him or listen to trade offers —- this is the kind of excitement the coach wants to generate. Yet there is a degree of equivocation in what JG is expressing —- (a) “I really am”; (b) “I am not going to make any power statements” —- but then Gannon offers a power statement deluxe with ““he’s going to have a hell of a year next year.”

Go back to JG’s equivocations after his exit interview with Kyler —- how the HC exonerated the QB for the mistakes he made during the team’s 1-4 flop following the bye week —- and JG concluded the interview by telling Kyler that “good QBs play on good teams.”

Interesting that when asked about the Cardinals addressing QB options/additions, Monti said, “yeah, I think everything is on the table...”we’re not interested in just handing out jobs”. He said:

Perhaps Monti was simply talking about a QB2 competition, but could he have talking about QB1 competition as well?

3. The owner, GM and HC are all of the belief that B.J. Ojulari is going to be a major contributor to the team’s success and should be counted on as such. Bidwill said to Bickley and Marotta that he expects Ojulari to a “dominating player at his position.” Here is what JG expects:

To be clear, it would be absolutely fantastic for B.J, Ojulari and the Cardinals if he becomes a strong contributor the team’s success this season. Like everyone else, I am hoping like crazy for him. But to date, B.J. Ojulari...