With receiver Larry Fitzgerald now under contract for the 2020 season, perhaps the most important pending free agent the Arizona Cardinals have is left tackle D.J. Humphries.
He doesn’t want to make it to free agency but he also isn’t willing to sign at a discount rate.
Left tackles cost a lot and Humphries is no exception.
How much is it going to cost re-sign him?
One option is to use the franchise tag, which would be an estimated $16.1 million salary for 2020. Another would be to use the transition tag, which is estimated to be $14.7 million.
However, if the Cardinals use the tags as a way to begin to negotiate a long-term deal, then those are the numbers they will have to start with his per-year salary.
If they try to work out a contract before free agency, how much could it cost?
The top 12 contracts for left tackles, according to Over the Cap, average between $12 and $16 million per year. While some might say Humphries isn’t a top-12 left tackle in the league, he is younger than every player in the top 12, he is athletic and he had a solid 2019 season. If the Cardinals don’t pay him, some other team will.
The contracts for the top two right tackles — Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson and Las Vegas’ Trent Brown — are an average of $18 million and $16.5 million.
Brown was 26 when he signed his deal. He had been disappointing and then was good for the New England Patriots for one season in 2018 before cashing in.
Humphries is 26 years old.
He is one of the top tackles on the market under 30.
He probably won’t take an average salary near the bottom of the top, so the $12 million per year average isn’t going to work.
Brown’s contract is probably the comp his agent will use.
So to bring hin back, it is probably going to take four years and between $60-$65 million total.
That might seem like a lot and perhaps more than fans want the Cardinals to pay, but the other options are to pay another tackle roughly the same money or go with a lesser player or unproven player.
The Cardinals know what they have in Humphries. He is a leader on the offensive line.
If they want him, it won’t be cheap.
[vertical-gallery id=431758]
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
Ep. 257
[protected-iframe id=”74c89baf5df8861f45d142d0fbf6fc3c-112738498-106269283″ info=”https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/22400501/download.mp3″ ]
Ep. 256
[protected-iframe id=”5dba5baeefa8b7e9bfd11c4333d4b344-112738498-106269283″ info=”https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/21947850/download.mp3″ ]