Arizona Cardinals are earning equity with Monti Ossenfort and Dave Sears building the new foundation

For many years it feels like the Arizona Cardinals have been overpaying on a rental property.

However, when the organization hired Monti Ossenfort as the new general manager and Dave Sears as his assistant, they have appeared to ditch the rental, by purchasing their own acres of land and beginning the construction of a new house.

In order to make their building of a new house possible, Ossenfort and Sears have been paying off old bills and tidying up their annual budget in order to cement a new foundation brick by brick.

Monti Ossenfort and Dave Sears are the Cardinals’ architects and head contractors.

As a result, even though the completion of the foundation is still in progress, for the first time in ages, the Arizona Cardinals are earning equity on a brand-new mortgage.

Most Aggressive Draft Approach in Team History

What Cardinals’ players and fans saw at the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City was the most varied and aggressive series of trades the Cardinals have ever made in a single draft.

Not only were Ossenfort and Sears able to add promising new talent to this year’s roster, for the first time ever the Cardinals are already the envy of next year’s draft, due to their plan to stockpile these picks:

• Round 1 (own pick)
• Round 1 (from Houston Texans)
• Round 2 (own pick)
• Round 3 (own pick)
• Round 3 (from Houston Texans)
• Round 3 (from Tennessee Titans)
• Round 4 (own)
• Round 5 (own)
• Round 5 (from Philadelphia Eagles)
• Round 5 (from Houston Texans)
• Round 7 (from New York Giants)

Notable Young 1st or 2nd Year Players Added and/or Retained to this Year’s Roster and Practice Squad:

• QB Clayton Tune
• RB Keaontay Ingram
• RB Emari Demercado
• TE Trey McBride
• TE Elijah Higgins
• TE Blake Whiteheart
• WR Michael Wilson
• WR Kade Davis
• WR Daniel Arias
• T Paris Johnson Jr.
• T Carter O’Donnell
• T/G Ilm Manning
• G Marquis Hayes
• C Jon Gaines II* (IR)
• C/G Hayden Howerton
• DT Dante Stills
• DT Ben Stille
• DE Eric Banks
• Edge Cameron Thomas
• Edge Myjai Sanders
• Edge Jesse Luketa
• Edge B.J. Ojulari
• LB Owen Pappoe
• CB Kei’Trel Clark
• CB C Quavian White
• CB Divaad Wilson
• CB Garrett Williams* (NFI List)
• P Nolan Cooney
• LS Matt Hembrough* (IR)

Currently the Cardinals list three rookies as starters for Week 1:

• T Paris Johnson Jr.
• WR Michael Wilson
• CB Kei’Trel Clark

Do yourself a favor and re-watch Monti Ossenfort’s and Dave Sears’ post-draft press conference. While they have just cause to celebrate, they manifest the humble mind-frame that they are only getting started.

Perhaps the most important organizational question to answer over the next few months is whether the Cardinals will find a way to keep Dave Sears long-term.

If you watched the Lions’ thrilling 21-20 victory over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium last night, then you saw how well Dave Sears, as Director of College Scouting, was able to build the Lions’ dominant offensive line through series of outstanding draft picks (LT Taylor Decker, LG Jonah Jackson, C Frank Ragnow and RT Penei Sewell), while also helping to fortify the Lions’ pass rush and defensive interior (DE Aiden Hutchinson, DE Josh Paschal, DT Alim McNeill, DT Levi Onwuzurike, DE James Houston) through the draft.

And that’s not even mentioning the number of quality skill players the Lions have added in their drafts he past few years, plus the Matthew Stafford trade and the trades they were able to make with the added picks they received from the Rams. The final results are now clear:

Lions lost:

• QB Matthew Stafford
• 2022 34th overall pick (second round)
• 2022 66th overall pick (third round)
• 2023 81st overall pick (third round)
• 2023 122nd overall pick (fourth round)
• 2023 139th overall pick (fifth round)

Lions gained:

• QB Jared Goff
• WR Jameson Williams (first round, 12th overall)
• RB Jahmyr Gibbs (first round, 12th overall)
• TE Sam LaPorta (second round, 34th overall)
• DL Josh Paschal (second round, 46th overall)
• DT Brodric Martin (third round, 96th overall)
• DB Ifeatu Melifonwu (third round, 101st overall)

Giving Dave Sears the opportunity to continue to build off of this year’s acquisitions, especially in light of the trades the Cardinals were able to make in this year’s draft, could very well serve as the Arizona Cardinals’ blueprint for ascending up the NFL Power Index the way the Lions have the past few years.

One possible way to keep both Monti Ossenfort and Dave Sears as a one-two punch, is for the Cardinals to promote Ossenfort to Team President and promote Sears to GM. While their titles would change, each would receive a raise, and their roles would pretty much be the same.

Now that the Cardinals are building equity on a new house, how about finding a way to keep the head contractors and architects in the house, to stay.

Think of it this way —- think about what you saw in Week 1 last year (Chiefs at Cardinals) to what you saw in Week 1 this year (Lions at Chiefs).

ROTB Poll:

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