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Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. — During the Cincinnati Bengals‘ 14-point win over the Arizona Cardinals last season at State Farm Stadium, former Bengals offensive tackle Jonah Williams noticed a few things: Arizona’s fans were loud, he liked the stadium and could see what then first-year coach Jonathan Gannon was building despite a lack of success on the field.
Williams took mental notes during the game, deciding then that if the Cardinals were interested in him during free agency, he’d “love” to be in Arizona.
Before free agency, Williams told his agent that the Cardinals were his top team. And when free agency opened in March, he found out the feeling was mutual, signing a two-year deal with the team just a five-hour drive from his forever home in San Diego.
Despite last season’s 4-13 record, Arizona made an impression on players throughout the league. From a distance, the Cardinals’ way of playing, atmosphere, coaching staff and culture caught the attention of free agents, so when they had a chance to shop for a new team in March, Arizona jumped to the top of many lists.
And with Gannon’s second training camp approaching, the culture shift is starting to be seen as permanent.
“It’s an exciting place as an organization,” Williams said. “Just the positive energy, the positive sort of atmosphere here, and I feel it’s a team on an upward trajectory.
“I was fortunate to be a part of something we had Cincinnati and it’s just a lot of fun.”
Williams and the other free agents based their decisions on what they saw through the windows. Once he got into the building, though, Williams said he was an even bigger believer in what the Cardinals were doing.
“We’re sort of building from the ground up,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of that.”
The foundation that Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort built in their first year together was what helped attract defensive lineman Justin Jones after he spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Bears.
“I love being a part of that, being a foundational piece for the team because I feel like I bring a lot of intangibles to the table when it comes to building a winning team,” Jones said.
A few of the free agents pointed out that Arizona’s young coaching staff, led by Gannon, was another point of attraction.
Gannon has established himself as a high-energy person. Williams saw that energy as a positive.
“It’s not fake,” Williams said. “There’s some guys who kind of fake the energy. I do not believe he’s faking the energy. I think it’s 100% real.”
For the last four years, running back DeeJay Dallas played against the Cardinals with the Seattle Seahawks. But after watching the Cardinals’ last four games of the season leading into their Week 18 matchup last season, Dallas liked what he saw. He agreed to a three-year deal with Arizona in free agency.
“I kind of wanted this just seeing what the Cardinals were about last year,” he said. “You could tell it was a place that was really on the up and up.
“Just pointing to the last four games of last season … just seeing the trajectory that J.G. had the team on. They were playing fast, playing physical, their special teams were balling out, they were pulling out stuff in the hat on special teams, even in the game against us last year, so that was exciting to see. I think that’s what kind of attracted me to it. I could see they were having fun. They were having fun. So, yeah, I’m ready to have some fun.”
Gannon’s persona is “infectious,” cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting said. “He’s just cool, man. He’s down to Earth. I can just tell from our initial conversations that he cares about the players or he cares about me.”
Despite one-third of the offseason roster being turned over, the returning players are policing the locker room, Gannon said, spreading his beliefs and the way of doing things to the new faces.
“There’s just a level of knowledge and understanding of how we operate and, ‘This is how we do things here,'” Gannon said. “It helps the players to know the expectation and uphold that standard that you’re kind of looking for and it should be pretty seamless now with guys that are getting onboarded.
“I always say if they got questions they can ask their buddy and their buddy knows the answer that I would say. That’s the exact answer I would give you too. So, it’s good to have the players have an understanding of that.”