Cardinals
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell said the team will need another quarterback this offseason with QB Colt McCoy working his way back from an injury.
“Colt is coming back from an injury that is going to limit him in the offseason,” Bidwill said, via the team’s website. “It’s another set of dynamics that (OC) Drew (Petzing) and JG (Jonathan Gannon) have to work through, and Monti (Ossenfort). We’ll see what exactly the plan is. That’s not for me to figure out, that’s for those guys to figure out.”
Bidwell added that QB Kyler Murray appears to be ahead of schedule in his return from an ACL tear.
“I think (his return) is going to be earlier than this midseason, so hopefully it’s toward the beginning of the season, but I don’t want to put any specific dates,” Bidwill said. “There could be setbacks, the progress could slow. But he’s a young man, it looks like he is a fast healer, things are going well. Let’s hope that keeps going the way it is.”
Bidwell said that when he spoke with HC Jonathan Gannon, his goal is to take pressure off of Murray within the offense.
“The way the offense was before he had a choice on almost every play we ran, so we were making him think too much and putting too much pressure on him,” Bidwill said. “We need him to play faster and with that confidence that, ‘OK, I don’t have to get every first down.’ ”
- According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, the Cardinals are hiring former Vikings assistant LBs coach Sam Siefkes as their new linebackers coach.
- Gannon said DC Nick Rallis will call the plays on defense. (Urban)
Rams
2022 was a disaster for the Rams and HC Sean McVay, and not all of it was within his control. The team was slammed by injuries, first on the offensive line and then to key stars like QB Matthew Stafford. McVay found that his relentless energy which has in the past been one of his biggest strengths instead became a fatal flaw contributing to the wreckage last season. He found himself becoming emotionally distant, frustrated and withdrawing from players and coaches.
“I have an ability to bring people with me in this positive energy and this aura,” McVay said via the Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue. “But I also believe that can be equally destructive, even if I’m not saying anything. The frustration, the body language guys feel — that leads to them being tighter and not going and playing the way they are capable of.”
This is why the retirement talk with McVay has been so persistent even though he’s one of the youngest coaches in football and has been incredibly successful. He pours his entire self into the job, and while he may not be unusual in that respect among NFL coaches, he’s far more open than most about wrestling with the cost.
“The guy has been basically running an 800-meter sprint every week since he got our job,” Rams GM Les Snead said. “At some point a hamstring is gonna get tight, a hamstring is gonna get pulled.”
In the end, McVay says this past season taught him a lot, as once the Rams were out of things midseason they went back to fundamentals as a coaching staff, focusing on teaching and developing. The losses didn’t stop but the players became looser and some measure of fun was injected back into the process for everyone.
“We didn’t stop the storm,” McVay said. “I didn’t for me, at least. But I at least grabbed an umbrella and I said, ‘I won’t let this totally tear me down personally.’”
- Rodrigue mentions McVay surrendered play-calling duties to former Rams OC Liam Coen for the loss to the Chiefs, but it only made him feel more distant and miserable.
- She also notes the Rams found some of their edges to be less useful this past season, as for instance they were outbid at the trade deadline for RB Christian McCaffrey and priced out of the market for pass rushers.
- Rodrigue says no one with the Rams will use the word “rebuild” but they do acknowledge they need to remodel in some ways. Rams COO Kevin Demoff noted: “We were not smarter than anybody, by any means. But we had a ton of first-mover advantages… We’ve got to go find those first-mover advantages again.”
- Another aspect of the 2022 season that didn’t go to plan was the addition of WR Allen Robinson. Rodrigue writes the Rams pivoted to Robinson after losing out on re-signing OLB Von Miller and recruited him hard on the idea of being a high-volume No. 2 receiver. But that never played out because Stafford’s elbow injury in the offseason prevented them from building chemistry.
Seahawks
- Seahawks FB Nick Bellore‘s deal is for $6.6 million over two years, with $3.75 million due in 2023. (Mike Garafolo)
- Seahawks G Phil Haynes signed a one-year, $4 million deal that includes a signing bonus of $2.185 million and a fully-guaranteed $1.305 million base salary. An additional $510,000 in per-game active roster bonuses is available, as well as $1 million in incentives. (Over The Cap)
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