.[/QUOTE
Michael Bidwill has been in charge of football operations for 10 years. If Keim is so smart why did it take Michael so long to promote him? Why did Keim feel the need to jettison so many players that he helped the Cardinals select?
All I see is the usual change in an NFL team where they go in the exact opposite direction from what they were doing when they decided to make a change in staff. Instead of paying big money for a few free agents they're paying small money to a lot of free agents and hired Arians who is the opposite of Whisenhunt and are going in the opposite direction under Bowles than they did with Horton.
The new coach is hiring his friends as assistants and bringing in guys he is familiar with as players just like every new coach does. That's not culture changing. That's just normal.
Michael Bidwill and Steve Keim were part of the group that took a team that won back to back NFC West titles and turned it into a disaster just last season. Did they ride together to Damascus or something that caused this sudden great change in culture?
Until proven otherwise they're still the 5-11 with 'em. 5-11 without 'em. Cardinals.
First-----Michael's power was not all of a sudden 10 years ago. Neither was Keims. Michael has gained power slowly from his father. He was only given ultimate control of football operations when his father chose between him and Bill Jr. about 3 or 4 years ago.
I don't know how you can even say that Keim was even instrumental in the draft until last year, (and that was only because he refused to draft O-linemen who were road-grader types, opting instead for pass protectors first). His power, as a scout, and even head of scouting was so far below Whiz' influence that he was not even a factor. Only last year, when he was made a vice president, did he even have the power to challenge Whiz on the O-linemen.
If you want to come off as stupid for clinging to the falsehood that Michael and Keim created the mess that Whiz brought us, go ahead, but don't try to get the rest of us to buy into that stupidity. Michael was given power slowly by Mr. B. He first gave him the assignment of building the new Stadium. When he was so successful with that, he was made a VP. Only then did he BEGIN to have functions of football operations, and when they clashed with Bill Jr.'s, he was finally given the title of VP in charge of football operations. Bill Jr. took that very hard.
Whiz had wording in his contract renewal giving him final say in personnel. If you will recall, he even dumped Leinart, a few scant days after he had that wording in place when his contract was renewed. Knowing that, Michael did not even challenge Whiz for dumping the QBOF that Denny Green had convinced Michael that we needed. Make no mistake about it, Leinart was the Bidwill family's choice for QBOF.
Today, Michael is firmly in charge of football operations, and Keim is HIS true GM, and has the authority to make selections on personnel that he NEVER had before. I don't believe that Graves ever had the formal title of GM in this organization, (though he did all the contract work). Both Buddy Ryan, and Denny Green were their own GM's when it came to personnel selection. I don't know how much, (or even if), Graves challenged Whiz on personnel selection, but I know he didn't have any say against either Ryan or Green. I think the family wanted Graves to become a true GM, but it became painfully clear that he was incapable of doing so.
Whiz was responsible for who we hired when he was HC. Graves was mostly responsible for those contracts that he failed to renew when trying to negotiate with agents of veteran players. Graves was the one who would bring in vets for visits in free agency, then let them leave town without even making an offer. THAT is where the culture has changed.
Keim has the say on who we select, and he has a policy that pretty much says, 'this is my offer, if you leave town without signing it, it is void'. He was extremely decisive in his contract negotiations this off season, and that is totally out of character for this franchise, EVER. Now, that will change as negotiations get underway with future renewals, but that was pretty much how it was done this off season. You can take it to the bank, that so long as Keim performs as he did this off season, he will remain Michael's GM. He has the authority to negotiate contracts, and finalize them, that Graves never was capable of doing.
The other major culture change going on here is the trust between the ownership, the front office, the staff, and the players. It now goes both ways, (as seen with players being trusted to provide crucial information concerning the hiring, (and handling), of other players). These people all trust each other. That was not so true before. Ownership, under Mr. B. was always suspicious, and reluctant to release power. Whiz expected complete trust from his players, but almost never returned that trust, often tossing players to the dump when one failed to live up to his expectations, or when he was finished with him.
Whether or not the W/L column changes, the culture here has changed, and changed for the better. No other group in this franchise's history has cleared the way for change, (and then effectively and efficiently gone about making those necessary changes in one off season). Buddy Ryan ran off all of Joe Bugel's offense, but he never replaced them with necessary talent. Denny Green brought in needed talent, but couldn't turn them into winners on the field.
If you require a boost in the Win column to acknowledge that change here, so be it. Just don't expect the rest of us to remain blind to the change that has already occurred.
