Welcome to the first part of a thirty-two-part series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. Fantasy football tasseography is deeply rooted in predicting future fantasy fortunes. Some of the team tea cups we'll be looking into may be larger than others. The smallest of cups may have the most alluring blends of offensive weaponry, or be set to bloom after a long steep. This series will aid in your approach to Redraft and Dynasty leagues by bringing you up to date on:

• Free Agency
  • Re-signings, additions, who signed elsewhere, and what it means for fantasy.
• NFL Draft
  • What can we decipher about the direction a team is headed in based on their draft selections? 
• Coaching Changes
  • Who's in, who's out, and how do the coaching philosophies translate to fantasy production?
• Fantasy Fortunes
  • What does this all mean for your fantasy football drafts?

Like tasseography, the arrangement of these sections will vary as we digest each team's offseasons and see how the offensive pieces settle. Each article will interpret what the NFL has told us about their plans based on what they've done since their 2025 season ended.

Reading the Arizona Cardinals' 2026 Offseason

First up is the least likely team to make the Super Bowl according to DraftKings odds, the Arizona Cardinals (+50,000). Sorry Cards fans, but the odds makers aren't a fan of your Super Bowl potential. Honestly, I'm not either, but I am excited to finish the tea on this team's offseason. I'll be buying into the Cardinals offense in both Redraft and Dynasty leagues, and you should, too. 

Free Agency Signings

Coming into 2026, it's clear that the Cardinals did not believe in their RB room. They signed Tyler Allgeier early in free agency to a two-year $12.25M contract, which temporarily boosted his fantasy value until the NFL draft. More on that in a bit.

They also signed 33-year-old OG Issac Seumalo to a 3-year, $33.1M contract. Seumalo is a solid veteran guard that will bolster the offensive line in the short term, and as the eldest lineman, he will be looked to as a leader. In addition, the Cardinals brought in WR Kendrick Bourne on a two-year deal with a 2027 out. Bourne will compete for the WR3 role and help the other WRs learn a new offensive system he is familiar with.

The Cardinals let veteran QB Kyler Murray walk, choosing to take the path of paying (and maybe extending - time will tell) a cheap veteran QB in Jacoby Brissett and signing QB Gardner Minshew and his mustache to compete for the QB1 role. Odds are Brissett holds the starting job at the beginning of the year, but he has been asking for an extension all offseason and held out of team activities until the start of mandatory OTA's.

Draft Day Additions

Back to Tyler Allgeier's situation. If you play dynasty and were able to trade Allgeier, you likely read his tea leaves and saw that the contract he signed was RB committee money. The Cards drafted Jeremiyah Love third overall, snapping the fantasy value that had been built on Allgeier.

Miami QB Carson Beck was selected to be the developmental QB of the future on Day Two of the NFL Draft. Beck has all the traits to be a solid NFL QB, displaying strong upper- and lower-body mechanics and the ability to read college-level defenses. Beck will need a longer steep before he's ready for NFL defenses, as he panics under pressure and makes bad decisions when defenses are disguised.

The Cards also selected a WR who will compete with Bourne for the WR3 role in Reggie Virgil on Day Three of the NFL Draft. Virgil is an X-archetype WR, and didn't make much noise when I watched him at the Senior Bowl.

WR Harrison "Tre" Wallace, who had a great headshot on the Ole Miss team website, was added as an UDFA to compete as WR depth. Wallace was an average route runner at the collegiate level, but might lack the athleticism to succeed in the NFL. 

Coaching Changes

Mike LaFleur takes over as Head Coach for the Cardinals, replacing Jonathan Gannon. LaFleur was most recently the Offensive Coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. Nathaniel Hackett will be the Offensive Coordinator.

Hackett worries me ever so slightly, and we will hope that LaFleur orchestrates this offense and that Hackett is there to make sure the team learns their roles. While it won't be a 1:1 dupe of the Rams' offense, it will likely bring over similar elements. LaFleur has spent time in both the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay systems and will likely combine elements from each into his offense.

We've seen other coaches that have spent time between the two coaching trees orchestrate flourishing offenses for fantasy football.

Fantasy Fortunes

Despite what the 2025 fantasy numbers for their most talented players may suggest, the team was not good. The injuries and losses piled up, creating favorable fantasy situations for Trey McBride and Michael Wilson. I wouldn't expect fantasy situations to change significantly for the existing talent. They will likely be well-fed fantasy assets again under Mike LaFleur.

Jeremiyah Love is in a fantastic landing spot to heavily target in redraft and dynasty. I think the portion of the fantasy community worrying about his landing spot is misvaluing the talent and situation. A small negative regression for McBride and Wilson is in the cards if this team stays healthy and isn't playing from behind as often.

My interpretation of the tea leaves is that Brissett will win the starting job for 2026, but multiple QBs may start for the Cardinals throughout the year because the Cardinals didn't do enough to address their offensive line. Whoever is under center for the team will face the NFC West's terrifying defensive fronts 6 times a year. Arizona having three capable QBs on this roster might be important to sustaining fantasy value for their weapons.

The upside potential for this team is in it supporting a QB2, RB1, two WR2-3s, and a top 5 TE for 2026. The players on this team are strong buys at their price points in all fantasy formats.

Cam White is a Senior Analyst & Host at Optimus Fantasy. You can find more of his work on our YouTube channel, and make sure to follow him on Bluesky.