Cardinals Must Solve This Dilemma

The state of the Arizona Cardinals' franchise and roster is vastly different in year three of GM Monti Ossenfort and HC Jonathan Gannon. A team that was known as a retirement home of the NFL now boasts a depth of young talent.

But following this offseason's free agency period, there is now a choice (or multiple) to be made with regard to the roster and balancing its abundance of youth alongside the proven, veteran talent.

The Cardinals are very focused on a draft-and-develop philosophy. That shift was a much-needed change from previous regimes, and has provided Arizona with a notable upward trajectory in spite of the overall lack of talent present in the past few seasons.

Even though final scores and win-loss records may have gotten ugly at times, the Cardinals always had one thing: young, developing talent.

And that is still the case. Some of the Cardinals' younger contributors in 2023 and 2024 are maturing into starting-caliber players — the likes of Max Melton, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson and Starling Thomas V.

Add to that, the Cardinals brought in seven rookies from the 2025 NFL draft, and at least four will likely get immediate looks.

The dilemma lies in that balance, particularly along the defensive line. The Cardinals added veteran talent in Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell. Each one of those players has years of experience and a track record of success. They'll be instant starters, barring injury.

But now, the defensive front goes much, much deeper, and is filled with young players looking to pounce on opportunity. The question then becomes: who gets the playing time?

Darius Robinson was a first-round pick who wasn't afforded the opportunity to play much of his first season. Walter Nolen III was a first-rounder with a high level of raw talent. Meanwhile, there are draft picks like Jordan Burch and Cody Simon who could carve out starting roles for themselves, and even the in-house re-signing of Baron Browning to consider.

Gannon loves to rotate players, so it won't be a struggle to find a modicum of playing time. But Arizona also loves to give opportunities to younger players and allow them to develop on the field rather than on the bench.

With so many options, the Cardinals will need to determine where the line lies between de facto experience-based starters, and giving chances to young guys with high potential.

Regardless, the roster crunch speaks to just how much deeper Arizona's roster is heading into 2025. When all the options have talent, good things happen.