One of the best Wide Receivers in Cardinals history, Anquan Boldin, made an immediate impact in his 2003 rookie season.
A Second Round Pick from Florida State, Boldin won the Offensive Rookie of the Year on the strength of a 1,377 Yard/8 Touchdown year. Boldin only played 10 Games in 2004 but bounced back with 1,402 Yards and led the NFL Receiving Yards per Game (100.1). A Pro Bowl Selection in 2006 and 2008, Boldin exceeded 1,000 Receiving Yards five times in Arizona, a solid accomplishment over eight seasons. He was traded to Baltimore in 2010, leaving the Cardinals after 44 Touchdowns and 7,520 Yards.
As good as he was on the field, Boldin was a better man off it. He won the Walter Payton Man of the Year and Alan Page Community Award following his Cardinals tenure and continues to be known for his philanthropic endeavors.
A Cardinal for the entirety of his 13-year NFL career, Luis Sharpe was the second Offensive Lineman taken in the 1982 NFL Draft, behind only Hall of Famer Mike Munchak. It is a safe assumption that the Cards got the second-best Offensive Lineman of that draft.
Playing for the team while they had geographic designations of St. Louis, Phoenix, and Arizona, Sharpe started all 189 of his Games at Left Tackle, achieving Pro Bowls in three straight years (1987-89) while obtaining Second Team All-Pros in 1988 and 1990. He rarely missed games, stayed relatively healthy for most of his career, and was the building block for over a decade that the Cardinals attempted to build around. The team was not that successful in that regard, as he only appeared in one playoff game, but Sharpe was their top lineman for many years and deserved this spot.
In the same draft that the St. Louis Cardinals grabbed an elite Running Back (Ottis Anderson), they landed a top-flight Wide Receiver in Roy Green, though it took longer before that selection paid dividends.
Green was used more as a Returner in his first two seasons before seeing significant action as a Wide Receiver. A permanent starter by 1982, Green broke out in 1983 as a First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler, leading the NFL in Touchdown Receptions (14) with his first 1,000 Yard year (1,227). Green again was a First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl Selection in 1984, this time with 12 TDs and 1,555 Yards, with the latter statistic topping the leaderboard.
Green was unable to repeat this success as injuries began to compile, but he did have another four-digit Yard year when the franchise relocated to Phoenix in 1998. He played with the Cardinals for two more seasons before he played two final years in Philadelphia. As a Cardinal, he accumulated 8,496 Yards and 66 Touchdowns and entered the team's Ring of Honor in 2016.
When you think of Kurt Warner, naturally, the first professional football team you think of (and you should) is the St. Louis Rams, but he did enough in Arizona to extend his legacy and gain an eventual spot in Canton.
Warner signed with Arizona after a year with the Giants, and his first campaign in the desert was disappointing, as Jake McCown even replaced him as the starter for two Games. The year after was much of the same, as rookie Matt Leinart took over as starter for a few Games, but when Warner was on, he was still terrific.
After a better 2007, Warner was electric in 2008, having turned back the hands of time. He went to his first Pro Bowl in years, won the UPI MVP, and took the Cards to their first Super Bowl. Arizona lost, but Warner had a phenomenal postseason, and they would not have been this close without him. After one more good year, Warner retired on his own terms.
Warner entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017, and we will argue that the 2008 Season with the Cards put him over the hump. Arizona honored Warner with an induction to their Ring of Honor in 2014.