Written by Will Brinson at CBSSports.com
A championship window for an NFL team can be a curious thing. It is usually never long, it is almost never revolving and it can close much quicker than anyone would expect. It can also open unexpectedly, as the Cowboys discovered in 2016, when they went from the ultimate “win-now” team paying off a high-interest loan on Tony Romo’s contract to a team looking set for the long haul thanks to the emergence of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott as rookies.
The window does usually revolve around a quarterback, the only player who can drastically alter a team’s short- and long-term prospects. Jerry Jones was willing to play the role of Mr. Shovelstuff, pushing all his chips into the center of the table in pursuit of a ring while Romo was still capable of playing high-quality football. The Cowboys built an impressive wall of talent on the offensive line, but they also stumbled into the extension of their championship window with Prescott in the fourth round.
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. It’s also usually better to be patient than aggressive in roster building, but knowing when the time is right to take a calculated strike is critical too.
Entering the 2017 season, there is a group of teams who are backed into a corner of sorts, seeing a championship window close and being forced to go for the gusto. These teams will likely be aggressive in free agency and also keep an eye toward immediate impact when it comes to the draft.
Not all of these teams are identical, and there’s nothing wrong with being on this list. Being forced to win now is certainly better than not being able to win at all.
Arizona Cardinals
Easily the easiest team to identify on this list. GM Steve Keim confirmed this offseason the teams plans to be aggressive, given the state of the roster. Arizona as a whole is loaded with talent, a lot of it young. But there are some critical pieces heading down the homestretch that make this a pretty huge year for the Cardinals.
Following a disappointing 2016 season, Carson Palmer thought about hanging up his cleats. How serious he was about it, we’ll never know, but certainly he’s a more likely retirement candidate than, say, Ben Roethlisberger. Palmer was better than people give him credit for last year, though, and was actually quite strong down the stretch. In his last five games, Palmer completed more than 61 percent of his passes, averaged 260 yards a game and 7.11 yards per attempt, and threw 11 touchdowns to three interceptions. That included a game in a monsoon against the Dolphins. If Palmer gets back to 2015 form, or even just plays most of the season the way he played at the end of 2016, the Cardinals will compete in the NFC West.
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