You all may remember the cool behind the scenes video I posted a couple of weeks back starring Larry Fitzgerald and a bunch of expensive suits. Well, The NOC was back at it again, this time bugging the superstar receiver at the Sports Spectacular in Los Angeles.

Comedian Adam Lustick decided to go into one of the main elevators, press the button to stop at every floor and when an athlete entered his domain, he would bug them to death. Check out the video after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Now that Peyton Manning is officially a member of the Denver Broncos and Kevin Kolb and John Skelton are the two in competition to be the starting QB in Arizona, it really makes you think what could have been. There really is no doubting that, when healthy, Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and would have immediately come in and provided an upgrade for the Cards.

Not only did Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt not go as far as to say that, but he did not even admit that the team was actively pursing Manning just a few short weeks ago.

Continue reading this post »

Just two weeks ago, Quentin Groves was looking for a new football team to call home. His time with the Oakland Raiders had come to an end and he was searching for an organization that he could finally stick with. Since being drafted in 2008, Groves has played for both the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Raiders -- both of which run 4-3 defensive schemes.

Now, on the Cardinals, his role as an outside linebacker will completely change. Instead of consistently dropping into coverage, Groves will be asked to rush the opposing quarterback and create havoc in the backfield. This change may bode well for him, as sacking the QB just so happens to be his specialty.

Continue reading this post »

When the offseason gets into full tilt, content truly begins to get pretty dry. Luckily, Joe and I (Mario is on hiatus again) scrapped together a few tidbits of info to put together another episode of the Arizona Birdgang Podcast for you.

Check out a few of the topics and some info on this week's show called "User Error" after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Last season, the Arizona Cardinals were able to witness two of the best punters in the league do their jobs on the field. First it was Shane Lechler, a punter for the Oakland Raiders that boomed a few away in the preseason. Then, the Cardinals went up against his counterpart Pro Bowler from across the bay. Andy Lee is arguably the best punter in the league with his ability to change field position. Unfortunately, the Cards get to see him twice a year.

The Cardinals' punter is not nearly as expensive, but not as effective either. Dave Zastudil, a one time Cleveland Brown, has struggled with injuries throughout his career and has never looked truly 'right' since coming to Arizona. As the punter for the Cards, his play has been somewhat skeptical and criticism has come with it.

So, again we ask: Should Zastudil stay or should he go?

Continue reading this post »

When wide receiver Steve Breaston left Arizona for Kansas City before the 2011 season, many fans were not only disappointed, but they were skeptical at what type of organization the Cardinals were looking to build on. After all, without a legitimate #2 wide receiver, what targets outside of Larry Fitzgerald would newly acquired QB Kevin Kolb have to throw to?

Breaston accepted a 5-year contract offer from the Chiefs, but when looking back on it today, would it have been wise for the Cardinals to match it? Let's find out after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The Arizona Cardinals arguably had their biggest free agent splash in team history last year when they went out and spent millions upon millions of dollars to help upgrade their roster. $30 million of those dollars were allocated towards Stewart Bradley, a former inside linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Bradley had dealt with injuries throughout his career as an Eagle, but the Cardinals felt that by adding him, he would make an excellent addition to the team next to Daryl Washington. Unfortunately, Bradley struggled to get a firm grasp on Ray Horton's defense and therefore, did not take the starting job away from veteran, Paris Lenon.

In 2012, Bradley will have to show that he has what it takes to play inside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme or he may never see the total sum of that $30 million.

Continue reading this post »

Yesterday, we look at Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Stephen Williams and asked whether or not you think he should be apart of the 53 man roster in 2012. The voting was split right down the middle. 50% of you said he deserves another shot and believe that the potential is still there. The other 50% think his time in a Cards jersey is coming to a close.

Today, we will look at a player that had many people excited when the team signed him as a free agent once the lockout ended. Local Arizonan Todd Heap was cut by the Ravens after spending the past decade in Baltimore and he decided that coming back to the place where he grew up would be the best fit. Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as they could have in his debut season as a Cardinal.

Continue reading this post »

The NFL offseason can truly be a long and arduous process. Yes, there is the draft, free agency and training camp to help tide us over until the next regular season, but most of it seems like a dead period, forcing writers to simply speculate and dig for information.

So here on ROTB, we are going to start a series that, instead of having me speculate, will have you guys do it instead. I am going to list off a few players who may not have had a very large impact for the team last season and you will tell me whether or not they should stay or if they should be cut.

Because of Jess' post on wide receiver Stephen Williams and his uphill battle, it would seem fairly appropriate for us to start with him. Should Williams be retained by the Arizona Cardinals or should he be let go?

Continue reading this post »

The Arizona Cardinals, after losing Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the Kevin Kolb trade, were planning on relying heavily on Greg Toler last season. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition. Toler tore his ACL last preseason and did not touch the football field all season long because of it.

Less than a year later, Toler is back. Only, this time, he will need to prove himself in order to gain his starting role back alongside the young superstar, Patrick Peterson. According to Darren Urban from AZCardinals.com, he plans on doing just that.

Continue reading this post »

This time of the year is the worst when it comes to news around the National Football League. Not much is going on other than rookie camps, a few injury updates and some opinion pieces from just about everybody. Luckily, that changed this week a bit when the Cardinals started OTAs on Tuesday.

Because of that, Joe, Mario and I hit the studios to record another edition of the Arizona Birdgang Podcast. Hit the jump to see a list of the topics discussed and to listen to the show entitled, "Midnight Podcasting".

Continue reading this post »

With all of the lawsuits pouring in against the NFL from former players, it would only make sense for the owners to enact every possible safety rule they can to help protect themselves. That is why on Tuesday, the NFL owners voted to pass a new rule that will require all players to wear knee and thigh pads at the start of the 2013 season.

The move makes sense from a public relations standpoint, but is it really necessary? Should the players be forced to wear these pads on their legs?

Continue reading this post »

For a lunchtime treat, I thought I would share a video that landed in my inbox yesterday afternoon. We have all seen Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald at his press conferences after the games. We also get glimpses of him at special events where he appears to be wearing suits that may actually cost an arm and a leg.

The NOC is a sports network that runs through YouTube and gets exclusive content with athletes that can be very difficult to come by. This time, they were able to enter Fitz's home to get some footage of him getting ready for another outing. Oh, a day in the life of a superstar...

Continue reading this post »

Before Calais Campbell recently signed his five-year contract extension with the Cardinals, it seemed as if we wouldn't be seeing him until training camp. But with him now locked up for the next half decade, it's safe to say that he will be joining his teammates for the annual organized team activities.

It's that time of the year again, folks. OTAs begin today. Many players are still vacationing or some may be working out on their own, but there should be a good showing. For some players, showing up should almost be mandatory.

Continue reading this post »

Pro Football Focus is running a series right now that goes through every position in the NFL and seeing which players stand out at each one. Specifically, they are giving the top five performances based on their grading scale and listing why that player earned that recognition.

We all know that Daryl Washington had another outstanding year in 2011 as an Arizona Cardinal. But were any of his games good enough to earn honors from PFF? Yes, in fact, two of them were.

Continue reading this post »

On Saturday, Jess put up a post regarding Bobby Massie and how CBS' Rob Rang believes he will be the most immediate impact player for the Arizona Cardinals. That may be true considering the lack of depth at the tackle position and the collegiate experience that Massie brings with him to the NFL. There is the looming possibility that he is the starting right tackle come week one of the regular season.

So that post got me thinking a bit. The overwhelming opinion is that Massie will start week one, but how about the Cardinals' first round selection, Michael Floyd? When will he become a starting wide receiver across from Larry Fitzgerald?

Continue reading this post »

The Arizona Cardinals were lacking on the running back depth chart last season. After second round draft pick Ryan Williams went down with a torn patella tendon in the preseason, the team was left with only one solid option on the roster. Beanie Wells was forced to carry the load all year long for the Cards, despite sustaining a knee injury himself.

Once the season ended, Beanie was forced to go under the knife. He had an arthroscopic knee surgery back in January and according to a report from Darren Urban, his return by the time organized team activities begin is in question.

Continue reading this post »

With the Arizona Cardinals participating in the Hall of Fame game this season, it would stand to reason that everything in their schedule would have to be adjusted a bit. That is why, according to the team's official site, the Cards will be heading up to Flagstaff to begin training camp on July 24th this year.

As of now, no other dates have been released. The odd thing about it all is that they could have actually gone up to camp a bit sooner if they wanted to. More details after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Kent Somers put up a post on Tuesday discussing the numbers behind Calais Campbell's new contract. We know that it is a five-year, $55 million deal with $31 million guaranteed, but how does it all break down? What kind of bonuses will he be receiving? How much is he set to earn per season?

Hit the jump to find out.

Continue reading this post »

Once the Arizona Cardinals signed Calais Campbell to a five-year extension, they were able to remove the franchise tag label from him. In doing so, they created over $5 million in cap space. That money could be used towards signing another veteran free agent, but first, the team needed to square away its rookies.

They did just that on Tuesday, signing four different players to long term deals. To see who they are, hit the jump.

Continue reading this post »

After a couple weeks of deliberation, Mario, Joe and I headed back to the studios on Monday to record another episode of the Arizona Birdgang Podcast. This time, we had a special guest call in and give us some very interesting answers regarding his experiences so far in the NFL.

To see who that player was and what he talked about, along with some other topics we discussed, hit the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The Arizona Cardinals are now through with the first three days of their full offseason of workouts. From Friday through Sunday, the rookies were on the fields at the practice facility, getting some reps in with their new teammates and learning the playbook all the while.

Both Kent Somers (Cardinals beat writer from the Arizona Republic) and Darren Urban (official scribe for the team) were there to cover the five total practices. After the jump, see what they had to say about some of the players, including their impressions on a couple of key names.

Continue reading this post »

Although rookie minicamps have begun and all of the young players are learning some of the plays and getting some work in, the title of "rookie" camp can be a bit misleading. Currently, nine of the players attending these workouts are veteran players, having been on the Cardinals or another NFL roster at one point or another.

These specific players are each eligible to participate in these activities because they have not spent enough time on an active 53 man NFL roster. To see who they are and which ones could make the team this season, hit the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The Cardinals broke their first day of camp yesterday, except this was not your average day of camp. Veteran team leaders like Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Wilson and Darnell Dockett were not there to motivate their teammates. Instead, the rookies were the only group at work.

Darren Urban was there to cover the action and according to some statements from head coach Ken Whisenhunt, thing went pretty well -- for the most part.

Continue reading this post »

I got an interesting press release in my inbox yesterday that, although it is not NFL related, is still interesting news nonetheless. It appears that Kurt Warner, a former quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, has been named the 16th best player in Arena Football League history.

Now, you may be asking yourself how he isn't higher, but the Silver Anniversary Committee that voted his placement has their reasons.

Continue reading this post »

News broke yesterday (via Jason La Canfora) that the Arizona Cardinals have finally inked defensive end Calais Campbell to a new 5-year, $55 million contract. This is certainly the biggest news of the offseason for the Cardinals and their fans.

Now that some of the details have leaked, there are a couple of interesting things to note about Campbell's new deal. Also, it seems that the Cardinals may have saved themselves quite a bit of money re-signing Calais. Find out why after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

According to official Cardinals team writer, Darren Urban, the rookies will begin working out with each other at the team facilities this weekend. This includes not only the undrafted players that the team signed, but the guys that they drafted as well.

After the jump, see some of what they will be doing, as well as some other important information that you may want to know.

Continue reading this post »

Over at the mothership, SBNation.com, NFL writer Ryan Van Bibber did a nice piece on the Arizona Cardinals. Specifically, he put together an offseason report detailing how the Cardinals did last season, what they added this year in free agency and the draft and how the team could do in 2012.

After the jump, we will look at some of what Van Bibber said and discuss it.

Continue reading this post »

After reading a blog post from the Arizona Republic's Kent Somers, it inspired me to write a critique of my own. In case you have not read it, I encourage you to do so. It basically takes at least three seasons before fans can fairly judge a draft class and assign them a grade. Somers basically breaks down the entire 2009 group and assesses the work they have done so far.

In my post, I will do something similar, but I intend to assign them a grade at the end. I encourage you to leave your grade in the comments section as well and to vote in the poll. Now on to the grades...

Continue reading this post »

Yesterday, I introduced you to both Conrad Obi and Paul Vassallo. Many of you were familiar with Vassallo, considering the fact that he played at U of A down in Tucson, so the general thought is that he has a shot at making the practice squad or at least getting close.

Today, we switch back to the offensive side of the ball to look at Northern Illinois center, Scott Wedige. You can follow him on Twitter @wedige71. To learn more about this All-American lineman, hit the jump.

Continue reading this post »