What should the Cardinals do with their 3 restricted free agents?

Only one is worth offering a tender to protect the possibility of him signing elsewhere.

The Arizona Cardinals have three players who will be restricted free agents. If the Cardinals tender them they will have the possibility to match any offer another team gives the player and, depending on the type of tender, can receive draft compensation if they let the player sign with the other team.

Based on Over The Cap’s projections, the three tenders will pay a player the following:

  • First-round tender: $4.667 million
  • Second-round tender: $3.278 million
  • Original round tender: $2.144 million

The Cardinals do not use the tenders often. In recent years, they used them on safety Tony Jefferson, receiver Jaron Brown and safety D.J. Swearinger.

Knowing this, what should the Cardinals decide to do with their three pending restricted free agents?

S Charles Washington

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Washington is a core special teams player, but there are dozens of players like him in the league. He wouldn’t be anything more than the last or second-to-last safety on the roster. That isn’t necessarily a player a team would want to pay more than $2 million unless he is a Pro Bowl-caliber player.

He is a nice player to have, but the Cardinals shouldn’t tender him. He is certainly worth trying to sign to a deal for less than the tender, but not worth tendering.

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