The Arizona Cardinals are in the second year of their progress under head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort. They have gone through many roster changes and have adopted a mantra of team-first philosophy. Gannon speaks of the “price of admission” for the types of players they will have on the team — the team comes first, they have high football character and IQ.
Running back James Conner, who has been with the Cardinals since 2021, calls what the Cardinals have done with the roster as a cleanse.
“We cleansed the roster — guys who weren’t serious about football, guys who were not in it for the right reasons, guys who don’t put the team first —we slowly weeded that stuff out,” he said on the Rich Eisen show. “That’s what it takes. First we cleanse and then now we’re ready to attack.”
He said it was players who “day to day, weren’t putting the team before themself.”
Over the last couple of offseasons, notable players like DeAndre Hopkins, Isaiah Simmons and Marco Wilson have been let go. They have gone through scores of lesser-known players as well, and that is probably more what Conner is referring to.
But it would appear that the culture Gannon wants has been established. With that intact and a more talented roster entering this season than last, they hope to take another big step in their on-field performance and results.
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