The Arizona Cardinals are in a crucial offseason. In theory, to have the most success they should trade Patrick Peterson.

There were some growing pains last season, which was expected with a rookie quarterback and coach, but they showed some life late in the season. Rookie quarterback Kyler Murray threw for 3,722 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.

On defense, the Cardinals had a lot of issues, and there need to be some big improvements made. They finished the season giving up 27.6 points per game, which was ranked 28th in football. Their 402 yards per game allowed was 32nd in the NFL.

With the struggles on defense, some might believe it's smart to bring Peterson back, but the team would be better off spending the money saved elsewhere.

Why should the team move on?

There have been rumors swirling the last few years about the team moving on from Peterson, but a trade hasn't happened yet. Peterson said last year that he wanted to stay with the Cardinals, and after the team's last game of the season, Peterson said he hopes they keep the secondary together.

“The more we can be together as a unit, the better I think we can be, like we were in that period when BA (Bruce Arians) first got here,” Peterson said via the Cardinals team website. “We were pretty much the same group for three years and we got better each and every year. Hopefully we can resemble the same thing.”

Robert Alford echoed the same thoughts, thinking the secondary would get better if they all stayed together.

“If you look over the great defenses, the great secondaries, they are together two or three years,” Alford said. “It's all about that camaraderie, being familiar with each other in the back end. I feel like the sky is the limit. Of course, I am eager to be back next year and show my worth.”

The team wants to stay together, but the team needs to make improvements. The Cardinals gave up 281.9 yards per game through the air which ranked them 29th in the NFL.

Patrick Peterson will have a cap hit of over $13 million for the 2020 season. Even though they could cut him and save that money, they should be able to get at least something back in return for him. It's clear he's lost a step, but the Cardinals can get some draft capital back.

Logan Ryan, Bradley Roby, Chris Harris, and Ronald Darby are all free agents. The team would be smart to use the money saved to bring in one of those players. There need to be big improvements made on the Cardinals defense, and it starts with trading Peterson.