James Conner hopes to finish career in Arizona, help Cardinals 'turn things around'

James Conner accomplished his first 1,000-yard rushing season in 2023 during his seventh year in the NFL.

To assist Arizona in regaining competitiveness and demonstrate his value beyond his contract year, he’ll need to do that and even more.

“It would be awesome to finish my career here, but nothing changes,” Conner said this week, via the team website. “If anything, it’s time to turn it up even more going into the last year of my deal. I’m thankful I got to see the last year of it, so I’ll go into it with everything I got. We’ll see what happens next year, hopefully stay, but I understand it’s a business.”

At 29, Conner is reaching the risky age for running backs who wish to avoid a decline in performance. Despite this, his performance at the end of last season seemed far from this danger zone. In his last five games, he scored seven scrimmage touchdowns, which included three performances of rushing over 100 yards and a final game where he surpassed 200 yards from scrimmage.

His 1,040 rushing yards and his average of 5.0 yards-per-carry on the season were both career highs.

However, the position Conner plays can be a fickle one. Peers near his age — Derrick Henry, Aaron Jones and Austin Ekeler — all forged tremendous careers with their respective clubs for years, and they’re all playing for new ones in 2024.

Conner himself signed with the Cardinals ahead of the 2021 season following four years with the Steelers.

In his first year with Arizona, Conner blazed his trail to his second Pro Bowl, recording 752 rushing yards, 375 receiving yards, and 18 total touchdowns. His efforts played a significant role in igniting the team’s performance, leading to 11 victories and ending a six-year playoff absence.

However, the Cardinals have since experienced a decline, securing only four victories in each of the last two campaigns.

In an effort to further improve, Conner aims to assist Arizona once again in altering its fortunes — this time, he hopes, with more permanence.

“He expressed his desire to make a change, saying, “We want to reflect our excellent coaching and our great football team in our record and our performance. I feel the need to voice this.”

Currently, there isn’t a lot of buzz suggesting that the Cardinals could go from being the worst to the best in their division. The defense, in particular, would need significant improvement after ending last season as the NFL’s second worst scoring unit. However, there seems to be some positive momentum building around their offense.

Kyler Murray is another year removed from his 2022 ACL tear with weapons like wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., the No. 4 overall pick in April’s draft, and ascendant tight end Trey McBride at his disposal. Conner will make all their lives easier in the backfield and, as an RB who has missed multiple games in every season to date, should benefit greatly from sharing duties with third-round rookie Trey Benson.

If those pieces result in an unexpected run in 2024, the narrative for the next offseason might focus on whether Conner will return to contribute to further successes.