Well it helps to actually have some core players. The Cardinals seem to really have trouble developing players especially their 3-5th round draft picks.
They'll have some guys step up and develop into solid starters who are recognized around the league but not many. Right now, not counting the rookies, I'd only put Boldin and Wilson in that catagory.
Well I'd argue this point to a certain extent. It's almost a chicken or the egg question. You could say "The Cards hardly ever get any all-pros, therefore they don't draft well." Of course, the counter-argument is that the reason we don't have any all-pros is because we have losing teams, and the media finds a way to give credit to winning teams, not losing teams. That doesn't mean, IMO, that we don't have plenty of all-pro talent on our roster every year. It just means we haven't put it together, for whatever reason.
The players that get blamed for the team being terrible (and rightfully so - you can't blame an undrafted free agent for the team's problems) are the high-draft picks, free agents, and big money players. Those players then get forced out of town by the fans. The Bidwills, unlike some other organizations, seem to make their decisions based on the overall temperature of the fans, and therefore we're constantly getting rid of our core players.
We then restock with the draft and/or free agent bottom feeders.
The problem with that is that players coming out of college really are "developed" during the time of their initial contract. 4-5 years out is usually when they start to come into their prime. Between the ages of 26-31are when players are in their prime. And that's exactly when we're letting them go! For what? To pick up guys like Emmitt Smith.
And we have let countless free-agents go over the years. Maybe no-one big in the last couple years, but you look around the league and see Thomas Jones (could've been re-signed for peanuts - and then we wouldn't have had to spend big money for Emmitt and Edge, and might not have felt the need to draft JJ), LJ Shelton, Pete Kendall, Simeon Rice, etc, etc. You go back before that and see Jamir Miller, Larry Centers, and Lomas Brown were not brought back (to make way for the fan favorite, Plummer). Now, I admit that most of these players had soured on the organization in one way or the other, and sort of needed to go. But why is that? Is it JUST because of the Bidwills? I don't think so - it's because of a general negativity surrounding this team. And that is engendered by the media and fans. We build them up, and then tear them down.
Right now, it seems like Big is probably on his way out. While he has made more than his share of mistakes, the truth is that he is a core member of this team. And when he leaves some other core player(s) will get singled out as "the problem" with this team and will be released or given a low-ball offer. Dansby maybe? Elton Brown? Blackstock? Pace? These guys may not be great players, but being around for a couple years is an advantage over some 22 year old or free agent signing.
The beauty of being a bad team is that your players don't get that much credit, so you can usually re-sign them for less than you would, if say, they were all-pros playing on a good team. I honestly believe a guy like Big, if he were playing for the Bengals or something, would be an all-pro.
Somehow, I doubt we'll re-sign both Fitz and Boldin, and I honestly wonder if Leinart will still be here in 5 years. Are you telling me the fans won't turn on him if he hasn't taken us to the playoffs by then?
I know it's just an opinion, but it seems like we're a little like the Redskins, in that we don't have the patience and confidence to stick with a plan and keep consistent personnel through some bad times, all the while knowing that eventually once the team gels, there will be good times.