Arizona Cardinals players aren't tanking in 2023 NFL season

Nobody’s tanking in the Arizona Cardinals’ locker room.

So before you write off the season as a total loss — 0-17 and the No. 1 pick in the draft or bust — consider the players. Regardless of what the front office is doing, the fellas who play the game aren’t trying to lose.

“Guys are going out here to tank? Hell no,” linebacker Zaven Collins said. “Guys are going out here to fight, to win, to prove a point, for sure.”

Make no mistake, it’s better for General Manager Monti Ossenfort and his staff if the team loses enough games to secure the top pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. It’s better for Cardinals President Michael Bidwill, too.

Bidwill is already paying Kliff Kingsbury and Steve Keim big money, so it doesn’t make much financial sense to spend top dollar for players when his franchise has a brand-new coaching staff that’s not ready to compete for a title. Plus, Bidwill is dealing with a discrimination lawsuit that could cost him millions. With a bill like that looming, it makes sense that he’d try to save up a nest egg.

But losing isn’t what’s best for the players out there sweating, bleeding and risking bones and ligaments.

They want to win at all costs.

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“Losing sucks, Collins said. “It’s definitely a bad feeling.”

He would know. The guy started his career as part of a club that was 10-2. Since then, Collins has been laboring through a stretch of just five wins in the last 24 games that count.

“The feeling of losing, you’ve got to kind of hate that throughout the whole season,” Collins said. “You’ve got to keep that with you, because you need to feel like, ‘You’ve got to win this game.’

“Winning is what matters.”

'It's very hard'

It might not seem that way from the outside. The players get paid either way, right?

But think about it. Put yourself in their cleats for a bit.

Imagine you’ve busted your tailfeathers to make it to the NFL. You’ve been working out, eating protein pancakes, running hills, keeping your grades up and skipping parties since middle school. You’ve somehow beaten out thousands of other players to realize your dream and land a spot on the regular-season roster.

Everybody thinks you’re rich, except the contract probably isn’t as big as you’d hoped, especially after you’ve paid Uncle Sam, your agent and your personal trainer. Plus, your mom wants a house, your girlfriend wants a ring and your buddies want to party – in Dubai. And you still haven’t gotten a gold chain or a good set of tattoos, yet.

“It’s very hard,” Collins said. “We understand the situation we’re in. We’re very blessed to be here. We’re very blessed to be treated the way we are, the financial situation that we’re in. But not every guy is in that situation. A lot of guys are (at home when the regular season starts) … working out every day, not knowing if they’re gonna get a call or not.

“They might get a call for one week, they play. But, hey, they may be off the team the next week because a guy got healthy, now they’ve got to make that one game check last the whole year.”

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But what if you made the Day 1 roster? You’re set, right? Not so fast.

Look around. You play for the Arizona Stinkin’ Cardinals. The expectations are low. The competition around the league is brutal. And your quarterback just showed up a few days ago.

The poor guy can’t even find the bathroom, let alone any receivers downfield.

(For context, it would be like working your tailfeathers off to get to be the sports editor of a major metropolitan daily newspaper, then realizing that you’re at The Arizona Republic and stuck working with Greg Moore.)

'I hate losing, bro'

The good news is that the new guy under center hates losing as much as anybody.

“We’re all competitors,” quarterback Josh Dobbs said. “We pour so much into these games, week in and week out. It’s frustrating when you go out and lose, especially when you expect to win. Especially, when you had opportunities to win.

“That’s the nature of the game."

It’s ironic, but “you never want to lose that feeling, because you don’t want to feel it every Sunday,” Dobbs said. “You want to do whatever it takes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday up until the game to feel the other side of it.”

Even rookies understand what’s at stake. The NFL stands for “Not For Long.” You might not even have a job next year.

Winning can make all the difference.

“I hate losing, bro,” safety Kei’Trel Clark said.

Just a few months ago, Clark was a sixth-round draft pick. Just a few years ago, he was backup at Liberty before transferring to Louisville and becoming a prospect.

“Losing is very frustrating,” he said. “One quote that Jalen Ramsey said, he said he probably ‘hates losing more than he loves winning.’ … It’s been a long process. Just thinking back to where I came from to get to this point, right now. It’s been a whole lot of work. And that’s what I tell my little brothers. I’ve got a little brother who’s in high school, right now. I tell him that every single day, you’ve got to work harder than the next man.

“And sometimes your hard work may not get you the results that you think you deserve, but keep working.”

Does Clark sound like a guy who wants to lose? Does Dobbs? Does Collins?

Hell, no.

So before you write off the season as a total loss, just realize that nobody’s tanking in the Cardinals’ locker room.

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Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals players aren't tanking to lose games in 2023 season