Cardinals must find a better blend of players

Freedom is a fork in the road, where the luckiest professional athletes are presented with two choices. They can take the money. Or they can chase the ring.

Football players are a bit different. They must also confront their mortality. Most choose the greener path. And the ones that don’t usually end up in New England.

The Cardinals know better than anyone. They lost Calais Campbell and Tony Jefferson, two key members of their defense in 2016. They welcomed back Karlos Dansby, who left the organization twice, once bolting a 10-win team for the NFL wasteland in Cleveland.

Their next counterstrike should be obvious given the team’s short-term obsession with the Lombardi Trophy. The Cardinals should convince Anquan Boldin to come back for one more season, importing more of the fire and leadership so vacant from the team’s downfall in 2016.

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After all, the Valley loves sentimental journeys. And smart NFL teams have realized that competitive spirit matters more than natural talent.

The Cardinals have learned the hard way. Shortly after Bruce Arians arrived as head coach in 2013, the team cultivated a new reputation. They were a destination franchise, a team that offered great weather and 34 victories over a three-year period. Some like Chris Johnson and Jermaine Gresham once accepted less money to be part of the program.

That’s changed a bit. The Cardinals are coming off a losing season and are perceived as a team with a closing window of opportunity; where the bulk of the offensive statistics are gobbled up by the star running back, David Johnson; where no one is really certain how long the highly popular Arians will be around as head coach; where salary-cap limitations have lowered the ceiling.

So far, the Cardinals have reacted well to their personnel losses. But it’s highly debatable as to whether they’re better or just older.

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They’ve attempted to upgrade their special teams by adding a 42-year-old kicker, Phil Dawson. They scrambled to keep a playoff-caliber defense intact by signing a 35-year old Dansby, and a 32-year old safety (Antoine Bethea) who was part of Peyton Manning’s first Super Bowl victory. They still have holes on offense, and you wonder if Steve Keim is trying to craft some really bold maneuver that has marked his tenure as general manager in Arizona, where he has executed blockbuster trades for Carson Palmer and Chandler Jones.

The acquisition of Dansby might appear to be going backward, as would any pursuit of Boldin, who is also said to be pondering retirement. But the Cardinals need to find a better blend of winning players, not just guys who want to play football in Arizona. They were mostly a congenial, happy group in 2016, refusing to point fingers when their title hopes began slipping away in 2016. But they need stronger internal fortitude going forward. Maybe they need someone to point fingers. To wit:

Campbell was an unstoppable force over the back half of 2016, a player spurred to greatness by his impending freedom. But some of his leadership was viewed as posturing, a player who did his best locker-room work when the cameras were rolling.

Dansby is just as likeable, a player with natural swagger and real force of personality. He’s similar to former Suns star Shawn Marion, utterly convinced of his own greatness. The best leaders are legends in their own mind, and Dansby will give the Cardinals more intangibles than Campbell ever could.

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If Dansby’s athleticism hasn’t slipped, he might offset the loss of a 31-year old Campbell, especially since the team has depth on the defensive line.

You can’t blame any football star for leaving your favorite team. Unlike the current trend sweeping the NBA, where the best players are choosing to join forces on the best teams, NFL players are schooled to be mercenaries. The game takes too much of your body, too much of your life. The smart professionals learn to maximize their income, aware their earning power can disappear overnight.

Play the system right, and you can be like Ted Ginn Jr., a perennial disappointment who has now earned over $30 million in his career, despite never catching more than 56 passes in a single season.

This is where free agency becomes a risky proposition in the NFL. Not every professional football player loves the sport or feeds off the pain. Some talk a better game than the one they play on any given Sunday. The guys who want to get paid the most are usually the ones who win the least.

DANSBY: ‘I couldn’t write this if I tried’

This is where a championship team must find its own path. The Patriots own the blueprint, a team that puts a premium on passion and football intelligence, a team that entered the offseason with the championship trophy and over $60 million in salary-cap room.

The Cardinals have to follow suit. They need to win this offseason by accumulating a different type of player, the kind that breathes fire and yearns for a confetti shower. Nothing else fits their ticking timeline.

Reach Bickley at [email protected] or 602-444-8253. Follow him on twitter.com/dan.bickley.  Listen to “Bickley and Marotta” weekdays from 12-2 p.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.