In an NFC West division that boasts perennial contenders such as the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers, it is easy to see how the Arizona Cardinals could get lost in the shuffle. When pondering the 2026 NFL outlook, they aren’t exactly the first team most fans would eagerly examine.

After a disappointing 3-14 season, the Cardinals’ brass decided to press the reset button by firing head coach Jonathan Gannon and releasing quarterback Kyler Murray. While both moves made headlines, neither came as a surprise. Gannon’s teams never finished above .500 in his three years at the helm, and Murray battled injuries and inconsistent play over seven seasons in Arizona. Both men are talented in their fields, and still have a chance to be successful in this league, but it was best for the organization to move on.

Any time an NFL team wins just three games in a year, especially when two of those come in the first two games, multiple things clearly went awry. The lazy analysis would be that the Cards weren’t a strong team to begin with, their starting QB only played five games, and they were in a division where the other three teams won a minimum of 12 games each. While true, it inaccurately paints the picture of a hopeless team that gave up and immediately waved the white flag in each contest.

Despite not having their starting QB or top two running backs for the majority of the season, the Cardinals were competitive. A major issue was that they were on the losing side of an impressive eight one-score games, with four of them coming against playoff teams. There are no moral victories in a business like professional sports; however, Cardinal fans should not be overly discouraged. They are closer to contender status than it may seem.

Get The Coach And QB Right

For years, the formula for turning around an NFL franchise has been seemingly so simple. Find stalwarts at quarterback and head coach, and the rest will fall into place. With such expansive rosters and coaching staffs, the idea of only needing to lock down two positions to be successful appears too good to be true. While it may seem that way, look no further than last season for proof.

The Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New England Patriots all brought in new head coaches for their young star QBs, and all three mightily improved and made the playoffs. The Patriots especially overachieved as they went from a four-win season to a Super Bowl appearance in Mike Vrabel’s first year. From a new quarterback perspective, the Seattle Seahawks were dominant and won the Super Bowl in Sam Darnold’s first campaign in the Emerald City. This ultimate success came in Mike Macdonald’s second year as head coach, and this blueprint of getting the coach, then next year getting the QB, appears to be one that the Cardinals will attempt to duplicate.

The decision to hire 39-year-old Mike LaFleur as head coach is a clear shift to a more offensive philosophy. The former Rams offensive coordinator was a highly coveted name this offseason, and he enters a situation where there won’t be much pressure on him initially. With the QB room expected to consist of Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, and third-round pick Carson Beck, this season should be considered a redshirt year of sorts for LaFleur. Focus on building a culture, get comfortable as a head coach, evaluate the talent on the current roster, and if the team ends up winning some games, that’s a cherry on top.

This team, on paper, is too talented to tank. With that in mind, the front office in Arizona will not be too upset if the team undergoes another losing season. The 2027 NFL Draft is expected to have an abundance of quarterback talent, and the Cardinals would be ecstatic to have their pick of the litter when the time comes.

Brissett will likely be the Week 1 starter, but he’s more of a high-end backup than a starter. Beck is an intriguing prospect and will certainly get a chance to show what he’s got at some point. Unfortunately for him, though, unless he comes out firing on all cylinders, Arizona will be QB shopping in the first round of next year’s draft.

2026 NFL Outlook: Cards Show Promise, Build Optimism For 2027

Even though there may not be huge expectations for the Cardinals going into 2026, they are going to be fun to watch. This offense all of a sudden has a ton of playmakers at skill positions. With James Conner and Trey Benson missing most of last season, running the ball was a massive struggle, and Michael Carter ended up being the team’s leading rusher with 333 yards.

That will not be the case this year, as the Cards selected electric running back Jeremiyah Love with the third overall pick in this year’s draft and signed Tyler Allgeier in free agency. The two by themselves would already be a formidable backfield duo, but Conner and Benson are still on the roster as well. It remains to be seen if all of them will make the team, but running back is a position where depth is extremely important, and this would be quite an impressive quartet for Coach LaFleur to wield.

At wide receiver, after Michael Wilson’s breakout season, he and Marvin Harrison Jr. are an intimidating combination for defenses to deal with. Harrison may not yet have lived up to the enormous hype that was attached to him because of his father and how dominant he was at Ohio State, but he is not the bust people try to make him out to be. In his rookie year, he had 62 catches for 885 yards and eight touchdowns, which is not a shabby season by any means for a 22-year-old receiver on a poor team.

Harrison’s sophomore season was admittedly more of a struggle, as he only played in 12 games and battled through injury constantly. A fully healthy Harrison should be a scary sight in year three, which will only benefit Wilson opposite him and clear out space for new addition Kendrick Bourne in the slot.

When it comes to the tight end position, Trey McBride has a strong argument to be the best in football. Coming off a massive first-team All-Pro season that included 126 receptions for 1239 yards and 11 touchdowns, the Colorado State alum cemented himself as the team’s number one pass catcher. McBride is in the prime of his career, and with the connection he established with Brissett last year and a much-improved running game, it would not be a shock at all if he produced a similar season this year.

While the skill positions on offense look incredibly promising, the offensive line and defense as a whole were significant weaknesses last season. This is why the o-line has been invested in this offseason with the free agent signing of veteran guard Isaac Seumalo and spending a second-round pick on guard Chase Bisontis in the draft.

Fortifying the interior of the line would be a huge step in developing a serious run game and taking pressure off the quarterback as a result. On the defensive side, there have not been a ton of changes from the previous year, and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis was even kept on board from the Gannon regime. He will have a lot to prove to his new head coach and will need big seasons from established veterans like Budda Baker and Josh Sweat, and talented second-year players like Walter Nolen III and Will Johnson.

The name of the game for the Cardinals in 2026 won’t necessarily be to win games, but to show promise. They were better than a three-win team last year, and if LaFleur can establish the groundwork for success in his first season as head coach, that will make year two incredibly interesting to watch.