Arizona Cardinals fall in futures power rankings after going ‘all-in’ this offseason

For the Arizona Cardinals, we know this offseason comes with some question marks.

They invested heavily in veteran talent, J.J. Watt, Rodney Hudson, A.J. Green and Malcolm Butler are to be the missing pieces to take the 8-8 Cardinals to a winning season for the first time since 2015 and back to the playoffs.

However, in doing so, ESPN has the team dropping in their annual future power rankings that looks at the next three years, all the way down to 22.

From ESPN:

Why they’re here: While the Cardinals do have a dynamic young quarterback in Kyler Murray who gives them a real shot at annual growth, the team plays in the most competitive division in the NFL and has several key veterans with a natural win-soon mentality. The roster doesn’t possess a litany of major flaws, but the pathway to climbing in the NFC West is simply more difficult than for other teams with comparable roster tenets. — Yates

So why are they so low?

Biggest worry: The evolution of the offense both schematically and on the field has to be done in lockstep if this team is to ascend to the top of the toughest division in football. I’ll be watching how the new pieces are deployed and utilized, particularly on offense, and the maturity, health, and consistency of Murray. As these two areas go, so go the fortunes of this franchise over the next three seasons. — Riddick

What are your thoughts?