Our amazing GM and HC

[Catfish]

I can't show my appreciation enough for the wonderful attention to detail that our head coach and our general manager have for getting the most out of our roster.

Last week we got a great example of that from Head Coach Bruce Arians, with his 'Knee Deep' nickname given to spur one of our players to stop taking for granted that he would have a spot remaining on this roster unless he got on the field and fought to earn a job. I know many people frown upon such comments made publicly by coaches concerning players, but Arians has shown a remarkable sense for when to publicly chastise players or when to utilize his somewhat colorful language with the press.

The resulting performance by that player in the Chief's game was testament enough to why Arians has been such a coveted and successful head coach for this franchise. Obviously the 'light' has gone on for that player, and he is no longer content to hang back and go along for the ride.

This week, we saw something very similar from General Manager, Steve Keim. On Monday, he signed Chris Johnson on a one year 'prove it' contract to compete with our running backs, and suddenly ALL our running backs are off the injured list and are playing hard to get in line to earn their keep. Amazing how one such addition to the roster, causes the others to 'wake up' and take notice of what is about to happen if they don't take proper action.

I have been extremely happy with Michael Bidwill's selection of these two people to oversee our roster, but every time I see one of them do something like this, my admiration for them grows by leaps and bounds. GO CARDS !!

 

[BigRedRage]

+1!

 

[dreday]

I agree. Motivation can come in many forms and BA knows most of them.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

#Superscout

 

[b8rtm8nn]

#Superscout

(note: #Superscout moniker does not apply to outside linebackers, edge rushers or second round draft picks)

 

[kerouac9]

(note: #Superscout moniker does not apply to outside linebackers, edge rushers or second round draft picks)

Or tight ends.

 

[Metcalf Rules]

Great points!

 

[CardsFan88]

Good stuff. Completely agree.

 

[Brak]

I watched this happen as a kid growing up in the bay area with the 49ers. Eddie DeBartolo bought the team at a very young age, and his huge ego wouldn't allow him to let his people make the decisions. He made several bad coach & GM hires early on, and he was on his way to becoming an early version of Dan Snyder or Jed York. But after a few years of futility, he had an epiphany. After one particularly shameful loss, a fan spit in his face on his way out of the stadium. I saw him talk about this in an interview years later. He suddenly realized how passionate the fan base was, and how badly his franchise was was off the rails, and how it was all on him. So he made a decision - to find the right "football guy", give him the keys to the kingdom, and get out of the way and just sign the checks. He found Bill Walsh right down the street at Stanford, and the rest is history.

We've kinda witnessed the same thing with Michael B taking over for Bowtie Bill. Michael is content to let his "football guys" call the shots and be the face of the franchise. You rarely see Michael publicly, and when you do, you never get the impression that he's a guy who wants any of the spotlight. And like Eddie D back in the day, Michael has hired the right guys to carry the torch.

As for those other guys in Santa Clara, they've come full circle, with Eddie's nephew now running the franchise with his ego, and they've gotten COMPLETELY off the rails, and seem to be headed further towards irrelevance, unless/until Jed steps out of the way or the York family sells the team - neither of which I expect to happen any time soon, if ever. Meanwhile, decades of futility and embarrassment for the Cardinals franchise all seems to be history, with nothing but a positive outlook moving forward. I hope Bruce sticks around a long time before retiring, same for Keim. But I also have confidence that Michael will continue to make great hires when needed.

 

[82CardsGrad]

(note: #Superscout moniker does not apply to outside linebackers, edge rushers or second round draft picks)

Or tight ends.

Nobody bats .1000. In BASK we trust!! [emoji106]

 

[kerouac9]

Nobody bats .1000. In BASK we trust!! [emoji106]

Almost every position player in the major leagues gets a hit one out of 10 times, or they're not there for long.

 

[Buckybird]

Well said Fish

 

[Buckybird]

(note: #Superscout moniker does not apply to outside linebackers, edge rushers or second round draft picks)

X's infinity

 

[Buckybird]

Or tight ends.

Or drafting QBs

At some point it's gonna bite us in the rear...we've gotten lucky twice!!!

 

[Mitch]

+1 Catfish!

Appreciate very much that BA&SK&MB are getting veterans to come for the minimum and not making any promises. Wow! Seems like the front office used to have beg and overpay veterans just to even consider signing with AZ.

What BA&SK&MB are saying to the free agents is---look what our one year prove it deals did for Dansby and Cromartie. Quite a selling point, isn't it?!

 

[Zeno]

Nobody bats .1000. In BASK we trust!! [emoji106]

I think you mean 1.000, other wise batting .100 is pretty horrendous. Makes Chris Owings look like Ted Williams.

 

[Cardiac]

http://arizonasports.com/2015/08/19...-ranked-as-nfls-4th-best-gm-by-sporting-news/

Seems the Sporting News agrees with you Catfish.

It is amazing to think about how poorly this organization was run for decades and every since Michael has become involved how dramatically things have improved. With that in mind I put him at the top of the Amazing leaders in the Front Office.

All three are top notch at their jobs.

 

[Brak]

Heard an interesting commercial on the radio tonight, started out "I'm Michael Bidwill, owner of the Arizona Cardinals....". Wait, wut? Interesting that Michael is calling himself the owner. Perhaps the torch has been passed completely to him, with no fanfare. If that's the case, I'm sure we all approve.

 

[GatorAZ]

Heard an interesting commercial on the radio tonight, started out "I'm Michael Bidwill, owner of the Arizona Cardinals....". Wait, wut? Interesting that Michael is calling himself the owner. Perhaps the torch has been passed completely to him, with no fanfare. If that's the case, I'm sure we all approve.

I remember seeing Bill Bidwill a couple years ago and thought to myself that he looks like he has no idea what's happening around him. My guess is the torch was passed many years ago.

 

[MadCardDisease]

NFL teams with the most unbalanced payrolls

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/08/19/nfl-teams-unbalanced-payrolls-cardinals-bears-packers

Cardinals are at the top with over half of thier cap going to thier top 10 paid players.

 

[kerouac9]

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/08/19/nfl-teams-unbalanced-payrolls-cardinals-bears-packers

Cardinals are at the top with over half of thier cap going to thier top 10 paid players.

And that's really Peterson, Campbell, and Fitz. Our 9th-highest cap hit is Cooper's rookie deal. Our 10th-biggest cap hit is Drew Stanton.

http://overthecap.com/salary-cap/arizona-cardinals

I'm not sure Matt Shaugnessey makes this team if our young guys step up. He's running 3rd or 4th team and we'd save over $2M by releasing him.

 

[Buckybird]

I remember seeing Bill Bidwill a couple years ago and thought to myself that he looks like he has no idea what's happening around him. My guess is the torch was passed many years ago.

Yeah Mr B has been in bad health for several years now from my understanding.

 

[Buckybird]

I'm not sure Matt Shaugnessey makes this team if our young guys step up. He's running 3rd or 4th team and we'd save over $2M by releasing him.

Yeah that's pretty crazy that he's basically been a big part of a top flight run defense for the last few years as a DE now he's shoved down the depth chart & a guy who's not a very good defender (Alexander) is starting on the edge. Wtf

 

[ajcardfan]

Yeah Mr B has been in bad health for several years now from my understanding.

I've been wondering for years the arrangements that have been made to pass on the team after Bill Sr gets to the day that comes to us all. It sure seems like Mike plans to be doing this long term, but many families have had to sell their NFL franchises after the death of the patriarch.

 

[ajcardfan]

I think you mean 1.000, other wise batting .100 is pretty horrendous. Makes Chris Owings look like Ted Williams.

And no GM or HC even sniffs the realm of 1.000.


If Keim and Arians were batting 1.000, they would've let Washington walk and re-signed Dansby. That mistake can be overcome, but it could also haunt us.