Tag: Monti Ossenfort

Cardinals GM teases trade in 2nd round

Monti Ossenfort said Thursday that “options are going to be plentiful for teams that are interested in coming up to us.”

The Arizona Cardinals were the subject of many trade rumors leading up to the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. Ultimately, they did not make any trades in the first round, selecting receiver Marvin Harrison fourth overall and defensive lineman Darius Robinson 27th overall on Thursday.

But a deal might be coming.

Following the first round, general manager Monti Ossenfort suggested they could be making a trade in the second round of the draft, which starts Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. Arizona time.

“I think our options are going to be plentiful for teams that are interested in coming up to us,” he said. “Just as today, I think we’ll be ready to pick a player at 35 and I think we’ll also have plenty of options in case we (want) to move around a little bit.”

The Cardinals currently have the 35th pick, a second-round selection, and the 66th, 71st and 90th picks, all in the third round.

They will be busy on Day 2 of the draft.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Monti Ossenfort says ‘the hay is in the barn’ as draft day approaches

The Cardinals have an idea how things will go in the NFL draft next week.

Pleased with how his personnel staff has worked together after figuring out things on the fly last year, Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and Co. will now use the next week to fine tune the draft board, which Ossenfort said was 95-98% complete, and be prepared for the always anything-can-happen three days of the draft.

“The hay is the barn; that’s a good way to put it so we’re in a good spot,” he said. “Now I’d say for the next week is when we do turn our attention to scenarios and (say) this guy goes here, and we use the mocks to take a look at that. I don’t know that anybody knows anything more than we know. I think we’re all just waiting.

“We’ll sit there and watch TV just like you guys do as those picks come across the board. I think for the next week what we’ll do is we’ll throw different scenarios at each other (like) how will we react if this guy’s available or if this guy’s not available. That’s what really this last week is for me.”

Reflecting on how things developed a year ago, Ossenfort said, “I can’t emphasize enough just the importance of the guys around me. Last year, everyone was prepared, everybody knew what their role and responsibility was. It was scenarios that we had talked through and so we were ready. That clock is always in the back of your head, and you see it, it’s ticking away.

“It’s really big up in the draft room so it’s always there. It’s always present, but I think preparation is the key and we’ll be ready to go again this Thursday night just like we were last year.”

Finally, with the incessant outside chatter of debating whether the Cardinals should pick at No. 4 in the first round or trade out, the general manager was asked if there is a scenario he prefers.

He admitted, “I have an idea. I have an idea. I think when that gets firmed up here is going to be over the next week as we talk through these scenarios. I think up until this point and up until the next couple hours when we polish out that last five percent, I think it’s about getting our board right and it’s getting comfortable with where, both vertically and horizontally, guys are on our board.

“Once we get through that point, then we can start talking about what different opportunities may or may not mean.”

With three choices in the first 35, five in the first 71, six in the first 90 and seven in the first 104, anything can happen, but it always takes two to tango when it comes to trades.

Ossenfort emphasized, “It’s one of those things where I could say it gives us a lot of flexibility, but as with anything, you need a partner. You need to find someone who’s willing to move and we have to be willing to move one way or the other, up or down and you have to find a dance partner on the other end. I could come in here and say, ‘Hey, we want to move all around,’ but if nobody wants to move, then we can’t.

“And I could say, ‘Hey, we want to sit here and stand pat with all 11,’ and somebody comes with an offer that changes my decision. That’s not entirely up to us with all those picks, so that’s why we have to just stay flexible and stay ready to go no matter what comes our way.”

The first round of the 2024 NFL draft begins at 5 p.m. Arizona time on Thursday, April 25.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Monti Ossenfort calls it ‘brutal’ releasing D.J. Humphries, who now has to rehab on his own

“The worst part about this league is injuries and it just struck a guy that meant a lot to this organization and to this team. It just hit him at the wrong time.”

“It was brutal. Yeah, it was brutal.”

Those were the words of Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort when he was asked recently how tough the decision was to terminate the contract of D.J. Humphries right after the start of the league year on March 13.

Humphries had been a stalwart at left tackle and a leader in the locker room, but then suffered a torn ACL in Week 17 at Philadelphia on Dec. 31.

A happy new year it was not for Humphries, who had celebrated his 31st birthday three days before that game.

The choice made sense from a business standpoint, but the human level is altogether different.

Ossenfort said, “We got to spend a year with D.J. and we’re both better for it; our team is better for it. It is really unfortunate with the timing of the injury, obviously for us as a football team and obviously for D.J. on a personal level. The salary cap and the way things are set up and the way contracts work; it put us in a very tough situation.

“I can’t say enough about how I feel about D.J. as a football player and even more so as a person. Just being around him. His energy, and the leadership that he brought to this team, we’re certainly going to miss him. I just hope nothing but the best for him in his recovery and his rehab.”

Humphries had signed a contract extension prior to the 2022 season, and while the salaries were high in the final two years of the deal, none of the combined $31.48 million was guaranteed.

He was released with a post-June 1 designation, allowing the remaining signing bonus proration of $13.8 million ($6.917 million each year) to be split on the cap between 2024 and 2025.

The full cap charge of $22.877 million, the second-highest on the team after quarterback Kyler Murray, is currently on the Cardinals’ cap through June 1. However, even with that, according to overthecap.com, the team has over $29 million of space with another $15.96 million becoming available on June 2.

Meanwhile, although the Cardinals are financially responsible for his rehab, it will be accomplished away from the team, while not knowing how much interest there will be from other teams whenever he is healthy.

Ossenfort said, “There will be plenty of resources available to D.J. that he’ll be able to do his rehab and he’ll have everything that he needs. But he’ll be on his own instead of with the team.”

Might there be a situation where Humphries could be with the Cardinals again, even though they moved quickly in free agency to add tackle Jonah Williams?

“Who knows what’s going to happen down the line?” Ossenfort said. “I would have zero hesitation to bring D.J. back. Unfortunately, the worst part about this league is injuries and it just struck a guy that meant a lot to this organization and to this team. It just hit him at the wrong time.”

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Monti Ossenfort, Jonathan Gannon believe setting culture will lead to wins

The Cardinals GM and head coach spoke about what they consider other than on-field performance when looking to add a player to the team.

Like a broken record throughout every day of 2023, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort talked about the process of getting the right people into the building with establishing a “culture” more important than ability.

Culture can be an elusive goal and most every NFL team strives for it. There’s no question Gannon and Ossenfort believe in it, and that continued to be evident when they met with the media last week at the Combine.

Asked what they look for at Indianapolis, Gannon said, “If they love ball and if they’re team guys first. It’s awesome meeting with them, getting to start to know them as people before you really start diving into the tape. Really looking for what I call, ‘The price of admission,’ whether they fit that.”

In lockstep with Gannon, Ossenfort said, “Anytime we add a player to our building, we’re going to talk about the fit, not only on the field but off the field as well. That’s why this week is such a big process, is we can meet with players, we can compare the information we have coming in here to our take once we get the chance to sit down across from them.

“Ultimately, we owe it to the locker room to bring in people that have the right mindset and are going to do the things that we ask them to do to put our team in the best position to win. I would put the character and the football makeup of a player (just) as much important as the on-field ability.”

The Cardinals won only four games last season, three with Kyler Murray at quarterback, but Gannon emphasized how the team’s year-long competitiveness was the result of the groundwork being laid.

“I’ve told you guys four games isn’t winning enough,” Gannon acknowledged. “But I do think we have a good plan in place to improve our players and get better and what it speaks to is kind of the culture in the locker room, the kind of people in the locker room. It’s people and how you behave, that’s it. It’s not some fancy word. It’s like, ‘Hey, who do you have and how do we behave on a daily basis?’ It’s my job to hold them to that, like, ‘This is what we want and let’s make sure we do it.’

“When it’s right, we point that out and when it’s not right, we point that out. Ultimately, the locker room took that over this year. We got good guys in the locker room and that’s why Monti and I are so convicted. Anyone we put in this locker room, they’ve got to fit that. It’s not for everybody and like I said, that’s OK. It’s what we value as an organization.”

Concluded Ossenfort, “I think really the culture when we talk about it is guys that are willing to put the team first, guys that are going to put winning above any individual interest because ultimately, if we win, individual accolades, individual success is going to follow. Guys that have that mentality, that are mature, accountable, dependable, guys that are going to attack their job with the goal to win, those are the types of guys that we’re going to add.”

The Cardinals, of course, aren’t alone in that line of thinking.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said last week, “The best parts of the Combine are those interactions with the players. The on-field stuff is easy to see. Now it’s on high-def TV; you can see movement. But getting to know the ball player, what he’s about, what’s his why, what are the things that drive him. If there was something that had jammed him up in the past, who would be coming with them, if they moved to the city. Just knowing their family backgrounds.

“The evaluations with Adam (general manager Adam Peters) and his guys on the physical traits of the players; that’s going to stay consistent no matter where we’re at. But finding who the person is inside the helmet, inside the rib cage; that starts in moments like now.”

Lions general manager Brad Holmes was asked how emphasizing intangibles had evolved since becoming the club’s general manager in 2021.

“If anything, it’s taught us to make sure you put even more focus in on them,” he said. “Not saying that we ever ignored intangibles, but maybe if you said, ‘Well, he has this X amount of talent, ability, and say that the intangibles aren’t on steroids, but just needs a little bit of work.’ And you learn some lessons along the way. But I still am a firm believer that is the true separator of success at this level.

“I can name countless examples back from when I was with the Rams and countless examples even now within these three years that we’ve been building, where we look at our top players that have been really core foundational players and they have the intangibles that we’re looking for, so it’s not a surprise they’ve had the success they’ve had.”

As Gannon said, “I just feel like if you have enough of those guys, you’ll win.”

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort can’t hide enthusiasm for one prospect

Ossenfort was caught by a camera awed by Alabama pass rusher Dallas Turner’s 40 time.

The Arizona Cardinals have the fourth pick in the 2024 NFL and could go a number of directions with the selection. They could take a top receiver, a top tackle or top edge defender.

One of the best pass-rushing prospects in the draft is Alabama’s Dallas Turner. Turner caught the attention of Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort.

Turner, who measured 6-foot-3 and weighed in at 247 pounds with 34 3/8-inch arms, blew Ossenfort away with his time in the 40-yard dash.

The unofficial time was 4.49 seconds and Ossenfort, caught by NFL Network cameras watching from a suite, reacted as if he got the chills. He smiled and laughed. Some say it was a little dance. It was a reaction in awe for sure.

Here is the clip:

The Cardinals passed on another extremely talented Alabama pass rusher last year in Will Anderson, electing to trade back from the third pick before trading back up to get tackle Paris Johnson. Anderson went on to be the Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Houston Texans, while Johnson played every snap on offense at right tackle for the Cardinals.

Turner’s official 40 time was 4.46 seconds.

An athletic performance like that will make the Cardinals think about whether he is worth the fourth overall pick, especially since Turner also had on-field production, getting 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss in 2023 for the Crimson Tide.

Regardless of whether Turner ends up going to the Cardinals, the Internet now has a clip of Ossenfort that is sure to be a meme for years to come.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals promise to be ‘active’ in free agency

GM Monti Ossenfort won’t give specifics about a plan but promises the team will be active in free agency.

NFL free agency begins in a couple of weeks and the Arizona Cardinals are preparing for that. Last offseason, they signed a lot of players but didn’t make much of a splash. The biggest contract they gave was to linebacker Kyzir White, who got a two-year, $10 million deal.

With more than $57 million in cap space with the new salary cap of $255.4 million, the Cardinals could be big players.

General manager Monti Ossenfort only promises one thing about free agency.

“We are definitely going to be active in free agency,” he said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM this past week. “What does that mean? I can’t spell that out for you right now. I don’t know what that means right now because we don’t completely control that.

“There’s a market and there are players we think are going to be available right now that two weeks from now are not going to be available.”

Ossenfort would not say what areas on the roster the Cardinals will focus their efforts, saying only they want good players who fit on the field and off the field.

March 11 is when teams can begin contacting free agents from other teams.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals prioritizing draft over free agency to build roster

GM Monti Ossenfort warns of the dangers of free agency.

Will the Arizona Cardinals be big players in free agency this year? It sounds as if we should not expect them to make much of a splash.

General manager Monti Ossenfort spoke about roster building, the draft and free agency when he was on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on Thursday.

“We are definitely going to be active in free agency,” Ossenfort said. “What does that mean? I can’t spell that out for you right now, I don’t know what that means because we don’t completely control that. There’s a market and there’s players we think are going to be available right now that two weeks from now are not going to be available. Free agency is full of unknowns in that respect and, you know, there’s dangers in free agency.”

Last offseason, their biggest deal in free agency was signing linebacker Kyzir White to a two-year, $10 million deal.

What they want to do is use the draft as the primary source.

“Ultimately, the draft has gotta be where we build and where this team forms the foundation of what we’re going to be moving forward,” Ossenfort said. “It’s the place we get the most swings at it. We get to pick and choose the players we want.”

The Cardinals currently have 11 selections in the 2024 draft, six in the first three rounds.

Their rookie class last season was good and showed promise for the future.

Ossenfort needs another solid draft class to build depth for the future.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Multiple NFL teams expected to try and trade up in draft for QB

The Cardinals could benefit from draft day trades again with teams looking to draft quarterbacks.

The Arizona Cardinals have the fourth pick in the 2024 NFL draft. They also have the 27th pick because of a draft-day trade with the Houston Texans last year.

They could be in a position for both picks to be active in the trade market again.

According to NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, as many as four or five NFL teams will be looking to trade up in the draft to acquire a quarterback. There is much more belief in the class of quarterbacks in this draft than what is expected in 2025.

The Cardinals, who have their quarterback in Kyler Murray, could benefit.

Whether it is with the fourth pick, the 27th pick or even the 35th pick, Arizona could add current and future draft capital by taking advantage of the desire to add a quarterback in this draft.

Their most valuable pick is the fourth overall selection. While many feel like Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is as close to a lock for the pick as any, he could go before that, depending on what the Bears, Commanders or Patriots do.

Right now, three quarterbacks could go very early. If the Cardinals value the chance of drafting a different player and adding additional picks more than just Harrison, they could be active players in draft-day trades again.

But their pick at the end of the first round or their second-round pick also is valuable because teams looking to get back into the first round for the next tier of quarterbacks.

Either way, it could mean another exciting draft of trades.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals offer a revealing look behind the scenes at draft trades coming together

The Cardinals “Flight Plan” documentary offers a revealing look behind the scenes at how draft trades come together

The Arizona Cardinals were very active in the trade market during the 2023 NFL draft. New GM Monti Ossenfort pulled off two separate trades involving top-10 picks while on the clock in April.

In an exceptional edition of the Cardinals’ in-house media production called “Cardinals Flight Plan” we get to see how Ossenfort executed the trades.

First, he dealt No. 3 overall to the Houston Texans in exchange for No. 12, No. 33 and a first-round and third-round pick in 2024, also sending No. 105 to Houston. But that comes after a rapid series of negotiations over the exact compensation that occur while the Cardinals are on the clock.

After that thrill ride, Ossenfort and his staff don’t have much time to catch their collective breath. They engineered another trade, packaging the No. 12 pick they just acquired to move up to No. 6 in a trade with the Detroit Lions.

Ossenfort talks with all four teams picking between No. 5 and No. 8 before agreeing to the deal with Detroit. It’s an indication of just how strongly the Cardinals valued Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., who they elected at No. 6 after the trade.

The entire program is an exceptional behind-the-scenes look at how a draft plays out in real-time.

Jonathan Gannon explains tampering situation with Monti Ossenfort

Gannon gives insight to what the impermissible contact was.

The Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles settled a tampering investigation related to the hiring of Jonathan Gannon as head coach. The Cardinals self-reported impermissible contact between general manager Monti Ossenfort and Gannon before the hiring and, as a result, the Cardinals and Eagles agreed to a trade of draft picks.

The Cardinals had to give up the No. 66 pick in the draft in exchange for the No. 94 pick and a 2024 fifth-round selection.

Ossenfort briefly addressed it after the first round of the draft, saying it was a mistake and that he apologized to owner Michael Bidwill, but he did not offer any details as to what happened.

Gannon did on Tuesday when he spoke to reporters about the Cardinals’ draft class.

“Basically, after the NFC Championship game, Monti reached out and kind of said, ‘Hey, congratulations,'” he explained. “That he’s been to some Super Bowls, gave me a little advice about how to handle that, and said, ‘Look, we’re in the middle of a coaching search and don’t know how the timing of this is all going to shake out, but basically would you be interested in interviewing if the timing gets pushed back until after Super Bowl?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I would be.’ Then I didn’t hear about it until after the game that we played when (Eagles General Manager) Howie (Roseman) came up and talked to me about, ‘Hey, Arizona wants to interview you.’ It was a mistake that we made. I apologize for that and I’m looking forward to moving on now and getting going. That’s kind of the story on that one.”

The only reason why Ossenfort couldn’t speak with Gannon after the NFC title game was because the Cardinals had not already interviewed him once. Had they interviewed him before then, the contact would have been fine.

It would appear that Ossenfort did not completely understand the rule or overlooked it because it wasn’t an interview. It was simply a call to inquire. The two knew each other already.

It doesn’t make it right, but it was clearly nothing nefarious and it definitely would not have impacted Gannon’s preparation for the Super Bowl, as some have implied.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.