This team needs to learn to trade players at the right time.
I have been saying that for years on here, and have gotten mostly criticism about trading our better players. Who else are you going to trade that anyone would give you much for? You have to give up some guys when the cost does´t justify what you had been paying them a few years prior.
Within a couple years right after they peaked is when you can get the best return for them, and when they are costing you the most to keep. Can´t wait for their production to go down. Timing is everything.
Now I have to admit 2 things. One is that you should not break up a championship caliber team. And second, you need someone who knows how to draft and replace these better players with the correct picks. Neither of which we have had for quite a while.
Our GM has been doing it totally backwards. He has acquired once good players for big dollars when they are close to retiring and their bodies have begun to break down every couple games and they miss large parts of the couple seasons we have paid them for.
To me if you are not a playoff and championship caliber team, you should be building for one. And that generally means freeing cap space and acquiring draft picks, so you can build up to your next championship push. I would always be progressing through one of 3 stages of a 8-10 year cycle.
Stage I, 2-3 years - Post-peak years signal the coming Acquisition Period, still winning, just not as much (begin to unload, acquire picks, & free up cap space)
Stage II, 2-3 years - Re-Build Period through draft & FA, the .500 and below years (put new pieces in place: training, developing, filling holes, team improving/playing as one/learning to win)
Stage III, 4-6 years - Super Bowl Run begins with finishing touches, the playoff years (coming together as team, players beginning to peak, fulfilling the dream)
The 2023 Cardinals are obviously at year 1 of Stage II above.
