In a significant shake-up, the Arizona Cardinals made organizational changes by terminating three high-ranking executives and several other departures from various departments, sources reported to ESPN. The reshuffling included the firing of Chief Financial Officer Greg Lee, Vice President of Business Development Mike Iaquinta, and Vice President of Digital Content and Creative Tim Delaney. Additionally, Steve Ryan, the Senior Vice President for Corporate Partnerships, is expected to leave later this offseason. The restructuring also affected members of the Cardinals’ social media team.
This move came on the eve of the Cardinals relocating most of their non-football operations from their long-standing practice facility to a nearby workspace. During a meeting held at the practice facility’s auditorium, new Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Walls assured employees in attendance that their jobs were secure amid the changes.
Walls, in an email circulated just before the meeting, characterized these changes as a “new beginning” for the team, emphasizing the importance of modernizing their approach, strengthening their culture, and investing in their people. This overhaul follows Walls’ internal audit of the non-football departments, which aimed to address concerns raised in ESPN’s investigation into the team’s workplace culture. The restructuring includes the addition of seven new departments and the renaming of another.
These developments occurred five months after Walls assumed his role in August and more than two months after ESPN’s investigation exposed a toxic workplace culture within the organization. The Cardinals have since hired over 40 employees and are expected to make further hires in the coming weeks. Despite these changes, the Cardinals remain a significant force in the NFL, listed as the 29th most valuable franchise with a net worth of $3.8 billion by Forbes in August.