Cardinals 

The Cardinals enter the offseason with serious speculation over QB Kyler Murray‘s future with the team. Arizona’s new HC Mike LaFleur said they will notably examine the quarterback, offensive line and special teams roles. 

“We’ve got to go back and talk about all these decisions – quarterback, O-line, specialists,” LaFleur said, via Darren Urban of the team’s site. “Everything. It’s our job and for these players to build the best roster at each position. Those are conversations we will have, and I am looking forward in about 45 minutes getting after it.”

When asked specifically about Murray, LaFleur said the quarterback was always a big challenge to face. 

“I’ll say this, being in this division for seven years, it was never fun (to play him.) I have a lot of respect for him as a player,” LaFleur said. “He was never a fun challenge to go against.”

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports the Cardinals interviewed former Falcons assistant K.J. Black for their QBs coach role. 

Rams

The Rams hired former Browns ST coordinator Bubba Ventrone for the same role, with HC Sean McVay admitting that he has planned to hire Ventrone for quite some time.

“He’s the guy I’ve had my eye on for a while,” McVay said, via the Rams’ official site. “Very aligned philosophically. He’s got a great energy, a great edge. He’s a great communicator. You talk to people when you do the vetting and the background and what he does in regards to just being able to uplift and elevate people he’s around in situations he’s a part of. There is an energy, there is a toughness mentally and physically that he provides. There is a style of play philosophically with how he believes in coaching, what his units have looked like, where he foundationally learned what he knows about this game. There is a lot of guys that he’s kind of come from that have had really a ton of success as teams coordinators.”

• Rams GM Les Snead on QB Matthew Stafford returning and building a win-now team around him: “If Matthew [Stafford] decides to come back, there will be an element … let’s definitely make the most of the time we have with Matthew. The type of season that he showed he had, there’s only so many of those left.” (Adam Grosbard)
• Snead spoke on the CB room: “It’ll be a position group that we’ll attack over the next few weeks, few months.” (Greg Beacham)

Seahawks

Seahawks S Julian Love acknowledged the Legion of Boom that propelled the team to success in the past before telling reporters he is looking for this defensive unit to cement their own place in history.

“There’s one Legion of Boom, we know that,” Love said, via the team’s website. “A lot of those guys are still around. We get a lot of inspiration from. But we’re not them. The comparisons, obviously it’s a great defense in Seattle, your mind goes to Legion of Boom. We know who we are. We’re different. We carry ourselves way different than those guys, than those legends, and we’re just trying to create and identity for ourselves.”

Seahawks DL Leonard Williams was also asked about the moniker and says the defense came up with the name The Dark Side in order to differentiate themselves.

“We just kept hearing comparisons to the Legion of Boom,” Williams said. “And we kind of thought that it was time for us to have our own name pretty much. And we had a few names thrown at the wall, and I think The Dark Side stuck because, one of Coach Mike’s messaging is, ‘A play style and a place that nobody wants to wants to play.’ And in Seattle, it gets dark during the wintertime, and we shut some teams out this year with no points on the board. So, we have a very like suffocating defense, I would say. And I think that’s why we came up with The Dark Side.”

• Per Daniel Kaplan, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the Seahawks were not fined $5 million for violating owner rules.
• Goodell spoke on the Seahawks’ potential sale: “I think when Paul Allen passed away, it was made clear that the team would eventually be sold. Jody is doing a great job. … Eventually the team will need to be sold. That will be Jody’s decision when she does that.” (Ian Rapoport)
• Seahawks QB Sam Darnold was limited in Wednesday’s practice by his oblique injury, but he said that last week’s “bye week” helped him feel better. He said he’ll continue to do rehab this week. Darnold remains on track to start. (Jeff Darlington)