Beloved Former Vikings WR Unleashes Fury on Cardinals

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, who spent most of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, is not impressed with the Arizona Cardinals as an organization. In short, he thinks that franchise is “awful.”

A fresh start in Minnesota could rewrite the entire Kyler Murray conversation.

Carter has intimate knowledge of the Cardinals’ interworkings because his lifelong pal, Larry Fitzgerald, played 17 seasons for the franchise. And the curtain peel-back is not pretty.

The Cardinals’ Mess Adds Context to Murray’s Vikings Arrival

Carter was not afraid to rip the Cardinals.

Minnesota Vikings legends Jake Reed, Jared Allen, and Cris Carter connect with young fans during an NFL flag football event at The Grove, with smiles and interaction highlighting the league’s grassroots outreach efforts on Oct 4, 2024, in Watford, United Kingdom, as former stars help grow the game internationally. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.

Carter on ARI

The Hall of Famer hopped on the Fully Loaded Podcast last week and unleashed: “I’m gonna tell you something that you’ve never heard before about the Arizona Cardinals. They have one of the worst ownership groups. They do not know what they’re doing. And I couldn’t say this for a long time because my kid was playing out there — Larry Fitzgerald. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer; now, I can let go. They’re awful. The way they do things is awful. He was lucky to survive his career there.”

“They’re so inconsistent. They have no plan. They have no rhyme. They have no action plan — like what they’re going to do. And — they ruin a lot of good players. Players don’t go to Arizona and become Hall of Famers, typically. They’re fortunate with Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald that they escaped, but they were who they were.”

The funny part? Most non-Cardinals fans already thought this about Arizona. Carter merely confirmed what most commonly believe.

Carter added about the Vikings’ new quarterback: “Kyler Murray, to me, could be a Baker Mayfield. He could be a Sam Darnold. He’s got talent. Put it in the right system and support it the right way. He’s played some hell of a football. To keep him healthy and keep him confident — that’s what they need.”

The Murray Angle

Murray is now the Vikings’ quarterback, and because Carter played for the purple from 1990 to 2001, he has a vested interest in Murray’s upcoming stint. It’s still shocking to process that the Cardinals offloaded Murray in favor of Jacoby Brissett and Carson Beck, while paying him to play for the Vikings in 2026.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marquise Brown takes part in pregame warmups while sporting a Crucial Catch decal on his helmet on Oct 15, 2023, in Inglewood, California, emphasizing the NFL’s cancer awareness initiative ahead of a matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alex Gallardo-USA TODAY Sports.

If Carter has it right, Murray could be the product of poor ownership, never able to fully take off, as Arizona hasn’t empowered many — outside of Fitzgerald and Warner — to thrive.

Think: one man’s trash is another’s treasure.

NFL Report Cards Confirm It

Carter isn’t alone with his assessment of the Cardinals’ ownership and the enterprise. Annually (although 2026 could be the last, as owners don’t want them anymore), the NFLPA releases team report cards, with the Cardinals habitually near the bottom.

In 2026, they ranked second-to-last. These are the details from ESPN:

Treatment of Families: D+
Home Game Field: B
Food/Dining Area: C-
Nutritionist/Dietician: B
Locker Room: F-
Training Room: D+
Training Staff: B-
Weight Room: D+
Strength Coaches: B-
Position Coaches: B+
Offensive Coordinator: B-
Defensive Coordinator: C+
Special Teams Coordinator: B
Team Travel: C+
Head Coach: B+
General Manager: B
Team Ownership: F
Overall Rank: 31

Strangely, the Pittsburgh Steelers finished dead last in overall rank this year.

Arizona Sports‘ Tyler Drake on the Cardinals’ NFLPA grades: “In previous years, the report cards were posted with details to the NFLPA website and included plenty of breakdowns from team owner to cafeteria. This time around, however, the report cards are now internal after the NFL won a grievance filed against the NFLPA to not make the scores public.”

“Arizona’s locker room amenities have been a primary sore spot since the report cards were first created. They again received an F- in this year’s report card. As for head coach, which was a category added in 2024, Arizona saw no less than a B+ with Jonathan Gannon running the show the past three years. Gannon was fired this offseason and replaced by head coach Mike LaFleur.”

A New Beginning for Murray

Murray will get a chance to re-prove his status as a two-time Pro Bowler in Minnesota. He has Kevin O’Connell, widely known as a “quarterback whisperer,” at his side, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and the NFL’s third-ranked defense from a season ago.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray prepares during warmups before an NFC Wild Card playoff clash against the Los Angeles Rams on Jan 17, 2022, in Los Angeles, California, getting loose ahead of a high-stakes postseason matchup under the bright lights at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Chow-Arizona Republic.

Carter claimed Murray could become “another Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold,” but the ironic part is that those two quarterbacks were punchlines before they turned their careers around. Mayfield flamed out of Carolina; so did Darnold. They didn’t have two Pro Bowls like Murray, nor did they boast Murray’s efficiency and volume stats through seven seasons.

While Mayfield and Darnold needed full-scale career reclamation, Murray merely needs to be himself and continue his production from Arizona — and stay healthy.