The Cardinals are new, and it goes beyond the team itself.
The business side moved into a different building down the street days after the season ended. Dozens of new employees have been hired, growing the organization larger than it has ever been. At State Farm Stadium, multiple upgrades are in the works, highlighted by the high-end new seating choices but permeating to food options, the look around the sidelines, and the presentation on game days.
But it still starts with football, and that group started their brand of “new” last season in the first with coach Jonathan Gannon and GM Monti Ossenfort.
The foundation of culture was created in 2023, but this year – with the Cardinals reporting to The Wigwam resort on Tuesday and their first training camp field work coming Wednesday at State Farm Stadium – the regime has the team it wants.
No, it’s not fully built. But with a healthy Kyler Murray and a boatload of draft picks over the first two years, there is significant optimism, regardless of the on-paper result of a four-win campaign in 2023.
“You put in all the circumstances that went into it (last year), you have a new coaching staff, you have a whole new team, you have a new upstairs, you have new everything,” linebacker Zaven Collins said. “You’re starting from scratch. Kyler was also hurt at the beginning of the year. You have literally everything going against you.
“It’s not an excuse. It’s the NFL, right? But now you have a fresh start where everyone is back, everyone is healthy, guys they have brought in from all over the place, and I feel like upstairs, the coaches, they have everyone they want and you can build on that. You go into the season thinking, ‘OK, we got this. It’s time to go.'”
