This year more than any other, potential NFL draftees with off-field red flags have been highlighted here at the Scouting combine, in large part because some are not here. The NFL didn't invite a few players who normally would have been otherwise if it weren't for off-field trouble. That has generated mixed reviews from NFL people, although Cardinals president Michael Bidwill said he was glad to see it and send the message the NFL is "not messing around with this."

(My full chat with Bidwill will be posted Monday on azcardinals.com.)

The Cardinals haven't shied away from drafting players with off-field question marks, however. They've shown that with Tyrann Mathieu and Robert Nkemdiche. Bidwill, as owner, has the ultimate say over who will stay available on the Cards' draft board, and who will not.

"It started with my grandfather and my father, and I am following in their footsteps, that we're not going to have bad character guys," Bidwill said. "That doesn't mean that people don't make mistakes, in college especially. They are kids. They are 18 when they get to college. We should give people a second chance if they are truly earnest about turning their life around. That's my role, to make that decision. They push those decisions up to me.

"There are clearly some kids still getting in trouble their junior, senior year that look like they are going to have a chronic problem and I don't want to waste my time talking to them."

Still, Bidwill said, there are players that the football side will "bring to me and say, 'We want to try and convince you.' " One was Mathieu, who was aided in Patrick Peterson's willingness to stand on the table and vouch for Mathieu. Nkemdiche went through a number of interviews with the Cards last year, including a sit-down with Bidwill. Whether any potential Card falls into that category this year, that's what these next couple of months are for.