Man, a lot happened last week. Just taking a breath now, after spending a few days by the Bay. Things are happening though. Mike LaFleur putting together a staff. Cardinals Climb rapidly approaching. And the Scouting Combine will be here soon. Don't forget to send a question for a future mailbag with at least a first name and last initial.
From Joy:
"Just listened to the podcast Paul and Craig did on Larry. It was great. One of the things they mentioned was that over his career Larry actually had more tackles than dropped passes. That's a really cool stat but I was wondering if they included all the times before games Larry came up from behind and tackled Ron Wolfley? Always fun to watch."
Joy. It hurts, hurts deep, that you noted Paul and Craig on the podcast yet not my fine contribution from San Francisco. I thought we were tighter than that, but alas.
As for the tackling, I do not believe all the extracurricular tackles Fitz had during his career -- I was the victim once -- on Wolf of the many others he got (and there were many) were part of his official total. Didn't make them any less memorable, however.
From Matthew Wehe:
"I am a bit pissed, can I say that? I am perplexed that every time a pundit speaks of our QB situation, no one ever brings up that Jacoby Brissett averaged nearly 300 yards per game. It is a good sample size as well, not simply a few starts. I wish we would give him the reins for a few years! I don't understand! Why does every team he plays on not keep him? Also, he is inexpensive. Build up the offensive line and maybe add a pass rusher and if healthy, our team is exceptional."
It's not like Brissett has gone anywhere, and we are early in the process. The new coach has only been here a week. I don't see Brissett as the guy that will be their "few years" answer but he's in the conversation for 2026, depending how that plays out. As for every team, I think Brissett is talented and looked good at times for the Cardinals, but clearly teams have not seen him as the answer. Generally, though, it's too early in the offseason to be angry. I mean, if you are gonna be angry.
From Xavier Reed:
"Hi Darren. I'm sure much will be decided this week, but hopefully we poach every stinkin' Seattle defensive assistant coach possible. What a spectacular defensive performance in the Super Bowl, highlighted by the fact many of Seattle's players are young. If I sounded sarcastic, I wasn't. I'm dead serious: Go. Hire. Every. Seahawks. Defensive. Assistant. Possible. They are amazing at developing young guys into stars. We need that more than anything."
The fly in that ointment, the hiccup in that plan, the thorn in that side, is that you can't just poach guys unless they are true promotions. So maybe you could get a defensive coordinator out of that, but otherwise, no can do, X. It's an understandable take, however. The Seahawks defense was tremendous much of the season but especially in the postseason. It doesn't hurt that their head coach may indeed be a defensive genius, or that their draft picks have been excellent.
From Bob Haines:
"Darren, now that the Cardinals have hired an offensive-minded head coach, it is important they get the QB situation right. I believe the Cardinals should stick with Kyler. The draft is not full with QB prospects this year and Jacoby is a super backup QB, but not the answer. The Cardinals had no running game when James and Trey went down with season-ending injuries. Marvin Harrison also had numerous injuries. This team has talent and could succeed with good playcalling. Your thoughts?"
Careful Bob. I'm not a big "Your thoughts" guy. Just looking for straight questions. Nevertheless.
My thoughts in this case is that it's a nuanced situation at quarterback and with Kyler. As a decision-maker, I'm pretty thorough. In this case, I hate not having all the information and let's be clear, those of us on the outside do not have all the info. Haven't heard from Kyler, the Cardinals have all options open, and we also aren't sure what the Cardinals think are realistic alternatives. I'll say this: I'm willing to defer to LaFleur. I want him to be comfortable with his QB, and I think he should have the greatest say in this.
From Travis K:
"Hey Darren, appreciate the content! Who are most important Cardinals players about the hit free agency? Do the Cardinals had the cap space to retain the main players? Also, how much cap space does the Cardinals have going into free agency. Thanks, again!"
I'm going to start with the middle question first: Every team usually has the space to retain the "main" players. Who else are they willing to forgo or how much depth are they willing to forgo is the question that needs to be answered. The biggest scheduled free-agent names for the Cardinals are Jalen Thompson, Calais Campbell, Kelvin Beachum, Will Hernandez, Jonah Williams, and L.J. Collier. We'll see how many of those guys the Cardinals want to keep.
The 2023 draft class is also eligible for extensions, so do the Cardinals try and get long-term deals done with Paris Johnson Jr. and/or Michael Wilson? (Johnson, with his team option, is controlled through 2027; Wilson is scheduled to be a free agent after 2026.)
As for cap space, overthecap.com estimates the Cardinals will have about $42 million, but that is needed for the draft class as well. Always room to maneuver there.
From Dan G:
"Here is a guy I would like to see Cards bring back for DC: Colts LB coach James Bettcher. When Bettcher was promoted to take his Todd Bowles to be DC for Bruce Arians here, the Cardinals never finished below seventh in the league in overall defense. He loved to blitz and put heavy pressure on the QBs. That is the name of the NFL game today. You must be able to pressure the QB."
I don't think Bettcher is on the radar for LaFleur. You aren't wrong about the stats; in his three DC seasons the Cardinals were fourth, second, and sixth in yards allowed (overall defense). But if he is in the mix, his name has not leaked. Feels like LaFleur will go in a different direction.
From Paul Court:
"Hey Darren. Member of the Canadian Birdgang here. Glad to hear the Cardinals are on the list for the Canadian market. My questions: What are the options for Kyler Murray? Is there a possibility he plays baseball? Also, tell Paul Calvisi it's Wiarton Willie and he is a groundhog and is 90 percent accurate on predicting our spring. Tad better than Phil at 60 percent."
I am hoping Paul reads this mailbag for that info; clearly you are listening to the podcast with the Willie/Phil discussion. I'm going to take your word on the stats; I have to look up stuff enough without checking into groundhog analytics.
No, Kyler isn't going to play baseball. He's either going to quarterback the Cardinals in 2026 or he'd end up on another team, but he'll be in the NFL.
From Colin Brady:
"Good afternoon Darren. Love the mailbag and have been reading for a long time now. I was wondering whether you had heard any rumours about whether the Cards might be one of the international teams in Europe next year. It has been a while since Carson Palmer was knocked out of the game and we got a hiding by the Rams in 2017. Would be nice to see another game over here. Sincerely, a long-term Cards fan from London."
There are a lot of international games this season. Of the three "home" teams announced for them, the Cardinals actually have road games against each. We know they won't "visit" the Rams in Australia, because the 49ers have already been announced for that game. The Saints have a home game in Paris, but the reporting in France is that the Browns will be the other team. We will see. The Cowboys will play in Brazil. Same there.
I don't know if the Cardinals will play internationally, but there is a chance. Europe isn't the only option. There is also a good chance I'd think they would play in Canton too. That's not Europe either, but it is an extra game to start things at the beginning of the preseason, and you can watch Larry Fitzgerald be inducted to the Hall of Fame too.
From Bill M:
"Why can't we hire Joe Flacco as QB?"
I mean, the Cardinals could. Have no idea why they would want to. You have a veteran QB in that vein with Brissett, and frankly, I think Brissett is better than Flacco at this point in their careers. So, yeah. No.
From Steve W:
"At long last, Darren, will you address the most important, critical issue now that Mike LaFleur has been hired. Is he related to NHL legend Guy LaFleur?"
If only they were related, but no, they are not. As long as we are talking about Guy, he was nicknamed "The Flower" which a) is literally what La Fleur means in French and b) does not sound like a nickname for a hockey player, even for an offensive-minded finesse player like Guy LaFleur. He was a Hall of Famer, after all.
I don't think anyone needs to worry about Mike LaFleur being called The Flower. In my small sample size, that doesn't fit him at all.
From J.J. Mouser:
"Follow-up to that question you got last week about having to drop everything when a news story breaks. Do you ever draft stories ahead of time? For example it seemed Mike Lafleur was a probable candidate for the head coaching job. Did you prepare a LaFleur story? It makes me wonder if there's are these unposted stories you've deleted over the years: Peyton signs with the Cardinals, new coach Andy Reid, Daryl Washington returns! It's like when they have to burn the Super Bowl merch of the losing team."
Burn? No way. That merch of a team winning when they don't ends up with needy people in foreign countries. You knew that. As far as stories? Yes, I write some ahead of time. I actually had stories written for about five coaching candidates just in case. It helps when it breaks, say, on a Sunday and you aren't expecting to have to write. (Sounds familiar.) Never wrote a Manning story ahead of time, or Reid. Definitely not D-Wash. Have written a couple of free agent stories of guys I thought we coming but were not (we won't name names.)
But the biggest example of that comes from my newspaper days. In 1999, the East Valley Tribune sent me to Houston to cover a couple of games between the Cincinnati Reds and Astros. The Diamondbacks were going to play one or the other in the playoffs, so we needed stuff for a special section. I went there and came back and wrote four stories -- an overview of each team, and then a feature on Reds first baseman Sean Casey and Astros closer Billy Wagner. Good work, if I say so myself.
The Braves then had a hella September, knocking the Mets to the wild card and into a series with the D-Backs. The Reds won 96 games and missed the postseason, the Astros got a division title (in the N.L. Central in those days.)
None of my work saw the light of day.
