Soaring Ahead: 2009-2010 Cardinals Season Preview

As the thermometer begins to boil past 100 degrees, and the elderly begin to flock out of Phoenix in hordes, you get the sense that it’s time to look ahead to the 2009-2010 NFL season.  

So many questions lie ahead for the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals: Will they bite the bullet and restructure Anquan Boldin's and Darnell Dockett’s current contracts?

Can they reach an agreement with integral parts Adrian Wilson and Karlos Dansby? 

Will their infamously stingy front office help a hungry coaching staff surpass the previous year’s success? 

And finally, will Kurt Warner be able to dominate El Presidente, Barack Obama, in a one on one jam fest?

All of these questions are pertinent, but unfortunately only time will tell.

It seems as though the Cardinals are dealing with downside of being a winning team: the players want to get paid.  They will not be able to keep the same team intact that they had last year, unfortunately it’s just the natural progression of things. 

The East Valley Tribune is reporting that there is a waiting list of sorts in regards to contract discussions, and sadly Anquan Boldin and Darnell Dockett are toward the back of the line. (Could their outspoken and overly abrasive agent Drew Rosenhaus have something to do with this?) 

The Cardinals have decided to focus on resigning defensive stalwarts Dansby and Wilson.  Reports indicate that Dansby might not be willing to sign a contract, opting for free agency, where he could possibly receive a larger pay day. 

Wilson on the other hand has made it clear that he wants to stay with Arizona. He is currently in limbo, waiting for the Bidwills to reward his hard work and devotion to the franchise. 

In my mind all four of these players deserve to be either resigned or their contracts restructured.  All four of these players have been with the team through the thick and the thin.  I understand that the NFL is a business, but reciprocating appreciation and respect to players who did the same to the franchise can only be a good thing. 

If other free agents around the league see that the Bidwills have changed their ways a bit, then maybe Arizona can turn last year’s improbable run to the Super Bowl into a standard—as opposed to a fluke haunting the memory of die-hard fans for the next 50 years.

Which leads me to the question: will the Bidwills finally meet the salary cap? 

I mean, when I heard the league raised the salary cap $12 million, I didn’t know whether I should jump for joy (because it’d make restructuring Q and Dockett’s contracts a lot easier) or begin writing a page long rant about how NFL profit sharing has ruined the Arizona Cardinals once again. 

In my mind, it would be completely unacceptable not to reinvest in a team that has given you your first taste of real winning football. 

We finally have a coach that the players can subscribe to.  He comes from an organization where winning is second nature (i.e. last year’s Super Bowl) and currently has a track record to back it up. 

On top of this, the Bidwills are sitting on a mound of money from last year.  They need to do the right thing (for themselves, as well as the fans) and join the ranks of a normal, competent NFL team. 

Take the revenue from last year’s playoff run and go get a big name free agent, go ahead and pay loyal players their fair due, and for God’s sake, get a different sports jacket!

Lastly, I think the recent invitation by President Barack Obama to Cardinal’s quarterback Kurt Warner has severe implications on the way the season will take shape. 

There are several different scenarios and possibilities that I wish to mull over, the first being the possibility that the President was just joking.

If Barack was just joking, and he in fact was only trying to connect with the Arizonan public through the means of name dropping a popular sports figure in Warner then he has no idea how he has doomed our season. 

Kurt Warner is a compassionate, well spoken, God loving man. He is not afraid to speak his heart and in that same respect is not afraid to put himself out there. 

There is no doubt in my mind that as soon as word spread and Warner came to find out that the President informally invited him to play basketball at the White House, well, Warner went bananas. 

Think of how honored Warner must of felt?  If Warner never receives a formal invite, and thus never plays the President one on one, expect his completions, TDs, and PR to be at an all-time low.

Ultimately, this would destroy Warner’s confidence, causing the Cardinals to slip back into NFL obscurity.

Scenario No. 2: Warner is formally invited and dominates the President.

If Warner wins, think of the confidence he carries into the season!

Let’s look at the facts: Warner is coming off a huge year in which he put many critics to rest with his outstanding play. He got to relive the spotlight he once relished during his stay in St. Louis, and he got to star in his own NFL Network commercial. (The one that chronicled his improbable rise to from bag boy to quarterback stardom.) 

If we combine these accolades with an Earth-shattering win over the leader of the free world, in my opinion, there would be no stopping the Cardinals from reaching the Super Bowl next year.  Warner would be a monster, nothing could stop him. 

You ask him where he found the fountain of youth?  He’d tell you from draining threes all over Barack’s face at the White House.

Scenario No. 3: Warner is formally invited and is dominated or hurt by the President

If this were to take place, it would be as good as Nostradamus predicting the end of the Cardinals himself. 

Not many people realize, but Barack is fairly young for a president—clocking in at a youthful 47 years old.  Warner on the other hand is only 10 years younger! 

I’m sure you’re thinking, “but Warner is a professional athlete,” but hosh-posh I say! 

The days of Bill Clinton eating at McDonald’s are long gone my friend.  The new age of presidents undoubtedly have a small army of personal trainers, nutritionists, and motivators at their dispense to assure picture perfect health. 

For all we know, the U.S. government could have injected the president with a super serum turning him into a real-life Captain America.  If this happens to be the case, look for Warner to pull a hammy on the final point of 21 as Barack pulls his own version of Vince Carter’s “Le Dunk De La Mort” (The Dunk of Death).

Overall, the outlook on the Cardinal’s season is positive.  If they can couple their momentum from last season’s Super Bowl run with the re-signing of key players (and rookies for that matter), then there is no reason that we shouldn’t be talking about the Cardinals once again come January.