Cardinals GM Steve Keim: Status quo for himself, DC Vance Joseph

It’s understandable to think that jobs are on the line within the Arizona Cardinals organization.

A five-game losing streak has seemingly reached a boiling point. The man atop the totem pole in Arizona, general manager Steve Keim, has taken most of the flak for a roster with a lengthy list of holes and even more depth issues.

The losing looked especially bad this week in a 34-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, and Keim’s frustration was caught on the TV cameras in the middle of it.

When Keim joined the Doug & Wolf show Friday on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station, he said the focus remains on the day-to-day within the Cardinals building.

He said he has not spoken to team president Michael Bidwill about his job status as Arizona sits 3-8-1 three-quarters of the way through 2019, which follows a 3-13 season in 2018.

“It hasn’t changed,” Keim said. “I come to work everyday and do the best job I can. I have a great plan in place for the offseason, very excited about fixing all the areas where I feel like we need to fix and very excited about the future.”

Keim remains optimistic because he views rookie quarterback Kyler Murray as a cornerstone piece for the franchise moving forward. This offseason, the Cardinals will have the most cap space available since Keim was installed as GM in 2013.

He acknowledges that the Cardinals have to address the defensive side of the ball “on all levels.”

For now, it sounds like expected changes will only regard the 53-man roster rather than the coaching staff.

Keim told Doug & Wolf that defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s status is “no different than what you guys asked me about my job security.

“Again, we’re focused on every day, moving forward, the future,” the GM added. “Right now, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it’s again for me putting a plan in place to make sure we get this 53-man squad right moving forward.”

Arizona hosts the Steelers at State Farm Stadium this Sunday at 2:25 p.m., a game that will be broadcast on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

The Cardinals enter the Week 14 game allowing a league-high 426 yards per game. While their run defense is bottom-10 in the NFL, Arizona is allowing a league-worst 307.5 passing yards per outing. That’s well above the next-worst defense by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who allow 281.8 yards through the air per game.

As for the Rams game, Keim puts the blame on everyone. And the blame or credit moving forward will continue to go toward everyone in the locker room and the football operations department.

“Starts with me, coaches, players,” Keim said. “We’re all in this together. That’s how we’re going to finish the season, all in this together. There’s never any one person to blame.”

Extra points

— Keim did not want to address the play of individuals when asked a question about cornerback Patrick Peterson’s production.

“I will just say that we’ve had a lot of obstacles to face,” the GM said. “I’m not going to get into individual players’ performances. The video speaks for itself. You guys can all see that.”

— The GM is hopeful 2017 first-round pick Haason Reddick can help the Cardinals at outside linebacker after he was moved out of an inside linebacker role.

“Went back to 2017 and watched him when we had him play there when Markus Golden got hurt and really liked what I saw,” Keim said. “Sometimes when you have a player who all they have to do is get off the ball, make disturbances and create pressure, especially with his get-off and his athleticism … I’m excited. He’s really ready for this opportunity.”

Array

Follow @kzimmermanaz