'Rebuild' or not, Arizona Cardinals need to ace the 2023 NFL Draft as best they can

New uniforms, whether you love them, hate them, or are ambivalent about them, aren’t going to help the Arizona Cardinals win any more games this year or next year or any year after that. The only way for one of the NFL’s oldest and longest-running franchises to get better is by doing better where it counts – in the NFL draft, which begins Thursday night with the first round.

Overall, the Cardinals haven’t done very well in the draft, especially during the 10-year regime when Steve Keim was general manager. From the start of his tenure in 2013 through 2019, for example, just three of the 53 players drafted in the Keim era are still on Arizona’s roster.

Those three are left tackle D.J. Humphries, a first-round pick (No. 24 overall) in 2015, safety Budda Baker, a second-round pick (No. 36 overall) in 2017, and quarterback Kyler Murray, the first overall pick in 2019. Making matters worse, Baker, the two-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection, has requested a trade if he isn’t made the highest-paid safety in the league.

He was in 2020, when Keim and team owner Michael Bidwill signed him to a four-year extension worth $59 million, including $33 million in guaranteed salary.

But that was then, and this is now and quite frankly, the Cardinals appear to be stuck in the mud. Various NFL draft analysts claim they have the worst roster in the league, Las Vegas oddsmakers predict they’ll finish with the fewest wins of anyone in 2023, and the general consensus seems to be that if they don’t ace this year’s draft, their rebuild coming off a 4-13 season could be prolonged.

General Manager Monti Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon were each asked during the Cardinals’ pre-draft news conference last week if they agreed with that assumption.

“We’re trying to get as many good players and good people on the team as possible, so I think every draft is important,” Ossenfort said. “This is a big opportunity for us to add talent to our team, to add the right type of people that fit our team from both a talent and a culture standpoint and this is a major step and an opportunity for us to add those players.

“We’re going to try and add as many good players and good people as we can.”

Gannon, meanwhile, took exception with the notion the Cardinals are in the middle of a “rebuild.”

“I just cringed when you said that word,” he said. “Our sole focus is to win football games. That’s in our thought process. What can we do on a daily basis whether it be through acquisition of players or what we’re doing with our players now. Our sole focus is to win football games so that’s what we’re doing.

“I didn’t like the word ‘rebuild.’ ”

Like it or not, that seems to be where the Cardinals are at present.

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They only have 70 players under contract for their 90-man roster limit. Unless they trade down from the third overall pick in the first round to gain additional selections, they’re slated to make a total of eight picks. If they don’t acquire more selections, the rest of the roster will be constructed by adding at least a dozen or so undrafted rookie free agents.

But make no mistake: Ossenfort, Bidwill and the entire staff underneath them must be precise and incredibly accurate about how they plan to attack this weekend’s draft. Generally speaking, if they get at least three players who become starters right away, they’ll have done well. If they can get four, they’ll have done great.

Considering where the roster stands now, however, that’s not saying much.

There’s rarely ever a “sure thing” when it comes to the NFL draft, even when it comes to prospects that go in the first round. It’s usually a 50-50 proposition, at best. This year’s draft class is no exception, despite everything you may have heard or read.

Potentially, it could get even dicier for the Cardinals if the Houston Texans, with the second overall pick, decide to pass on a quarterback and choose instead to take the best defensive player on the board – specifically former Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., who has been linked to the Cardinals in the majority of NFL mock drafts, including all three versions by The Republic.

Anderson is the type of prospect the Cardinals want to add, based on his ability and production, his love for the game and his character. But knowing they also need help and depth at multiple other positions, including at cornerback, offensive line, defensive tackle, wide receiver, running back, and perhaps at safety, they may feel the need to add more picks and deal out of the No. 3 spot.

Ossenfort said he’s had multiple discussions with various teams about the pick since the scouting combine and he expected those conversations to ramp up right up until the start of the draft at 5 p.m. Thursday (Arizona time).

“If the phone does ring and someone shows interest, then we’re going to have to weigh that,” he said. “It’s a give and take. Is there a player there that we want to take there? There obviously is. There’s only two players that are going to be drafted ahead of where we pick, so we have to weigh that versus if there is an offer and what exactly that offer is.

Then he added with a smile, “You guys will be happy to know the phones are set up and are operational.”

It’s important to note that Ossenfort, as Gannon also did a night earlier during the franchise’s new uniform unveiling, said the Cardinals have a certain player in mind at No. 3, should they keep the pick. He also said he doesn’t believe it’s necessary to trade down and acquire more draft capital this year than he would in two to three years, when supposedly the roster seemingly would be better and more set in stone.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think if the trade makes sense and it’s the right decision for our team at the time then we’ll do it. And if the right move is to sit and pick a player who we’ve done a lot of work on through the process, then we’ll be prepared to do that. I wouldn’t say it’s any more likely now as opposed to down the line.”

Position analysis: Linebackers | Wide receiver, quarterback, running back | Offensive line | Defensive backs, special teams

Whatever the Cardinals decide to do at No. 3 or whom they might select should they trade down, be it former Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez, offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. from Ohio State, edge rusher Tyree Wilson from Texas Tech or anyone else, Ossenfort is of the opinion that Arizona’s plan won’t be determined by what the Texans do at No. 2.

“No,” he said. “I have no idea what’s going to happen at 1 or 2. … Those are the questions we’re going to have to ask ourselves. … I don’t think anything that happens in front of us will dictate what we’re going to do at 3.”

Whatever the Cardinals decide to do, they better be right or their “rebuild” could take a lot longer than anyone could imagine.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How do the Arizona Cardinals plan to approach the NFL draft?