NFL fans called out the Arizona Cardinals for blatantly tanking after their surprising release of Colt McCoy
It won’t take much searching around the league to find the team that’s expected to have the NFL’s worst record in 2023. That distinction firmly belongs to the Arizona Cardinals.
But on Monday, they somehow managed to lower expectations.
In back-to-back moves, it was revealed that quarterback Kyler Murray would remain on the PUP list, sidelining him for at least the first four games of the season. And it could be longer as he recovers from an ACL injury. But at least they had a somewhat competent backup in Colt McCoy, right? Think again.
The Cardinals also decided to release McCoy, leaving just newly acquired Joshua Dobbs and fifth-round pick Clayton Tune as the quarterbacks on roster.
The #AZCardinals will keep QB Kyler Murray on the reserve/PUP list to begin the season, as Murray continues to recover from the ACL injury suffered late last season, sources say. He’ll be out at least the first four games, which is not a surprise.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 28, 2023
And now the Cardinals have released veteran QB Colt McCoy, per league sources.
Either veteran Josh Dobbs, whom Arizona acquired last week, or rookie fifth-round pick QB Clayton Tune will start opening day at Washington.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 28, 2023
When the Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon as head coach to replace Kliff Kingsbury, Gannon had to know that the roster situation was looking dire in Arizona. And given the release of McCoy — who had been the first-team quarterback for all of training camp — Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort must be on the same page about looking ahead to the NFL draft. The Cardinals have Houston’s first-round pick, which could potentially line up a dream scenario of Arizona selecting No. 1 and No. 2 overall in 2024.
At this point, Caleb Williams should start checking out real estate in the Phoenix area.
The Cardinals just need to tank to make that happen. They’re not being subtle at all about it either. Just look at how NFL fans reacted to Monday’s roster moves.