The Arizona Cardinals and their owners the Bidwills have long been known as a cheap franchise. It has been a rough go of things trying to shed this label. There is story after story about how the team would nickel and dime people and many years have gone by where the Cardinals have been among the league leaders in available salary cap space.
While many could possibly still try and use the "cheap" label on the team, it certainly can't be because of the use of the salary cap. Salary cap numbers as of Monday show that the Cardinals are right in the middle of the pack in available cap space.
Right now, Arizona is $7.2 million under the salary cap. That would be the 15th ranking teams from the least to the most available cap space. This comes after signing Larry Fitzgerald and Kevin Kolb to long-term luctrative deals.
In fact, within the NFC West, only the St. Louis Rams have less available cap space, who are $6.0 million under the cap. the 49ers and Seahawks both have more than double the cap space than Arizona -- San Francisco with $17.5 million available and Seattle with $20.5 million.
Does this prove that the Cardinals are no longer "cheap"?
It certainly shows that the team is willing to spend money on players they believe in.
In my book that means they are not.