Category: Arizona Cardinals offseason

Cardinals are best fit for free agent WR Amari Cooper, per PFF

PFF suggests that the best landing spot this offseason for Amari Cooper is actually with Kyler Murray and the Cardinals.

With free agency a mere few weeks away, many sports media sites are putting out their thoughts on where the best fits for impending free agents are. Pro Football Focus, for example, put out a prediction article for the top 50 free agents, and the Arizona Cardinals were not mentioned at all.

However, in a recent video they put out in best fits for the top 20 free agents, they suggested that the best spot for Amari Cooper to land was Arizona – start the video at 6:20 below to get their thoughts:

The argument centers around giving Kyler Murray more weapons – which makes a lot of sense given what other teams around the league have done to try to help their young quarterback (Alshon Jeffrey to Philadelphia for Carson Wentz and Allen Robinson to Chicago for Mitchell Trubisky are two examples).

The Cardinals could definitely use a receiver like Cooper, who has already established himself as a number one receiver in this league. However, there are other factors at play.

One is the Cardinals salary cap situation, which is now down to around $40 million remaining. While that’s certainly enough to pay Cooper, Arizona has bigger needs, as GM Steve Keim noted that they will address the front seven this offseason.

As well, according to many draft experts, this is the deepest receiver class in quite some time. If Arizona is indeed wanting a true number one receiver, there are a few they could grab in the first or perhaps second round that could take the mantle from Larry Fitzgerald.

This offseason will be one to watch for Arizona, and what happens with Cooper will be one to watch as well.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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Kyler Murray ranked only 4th in top-50 rookies list

He is behind Nick Bosa, Josh Jacobs and A.J. Brown.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyle Murray was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for the 2019 season. However, in a list of the top 50 rookies by Gavino Borquez for sister site Touchdown Wire, Murray isn’t at the top.

In fact, he isn’t No. 2 on the list. He is ranked fourth behind Nick Bosa, Josh Jacobs and A.J. Brown.

Bosa was the winner of the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

One could make a solid argument for him being ranked ahead of Murray. But the two rookie of the year winners should be the two top rookies.

Jacobs and Brown, both of whom had fine rookie campaigns, should not be ranked ahead of Murray. The voting for the award wasn’t even close. Murray received 26.5 votes from the Associated Press. Jacobs received 13. Brown 9.5.

Jacobs had over 1,100 rushing yards as a rookie. That is a very good season. Brown had 52 receptions for more than 1,000 yards. Again, a good season.

However, Murray’s season was special at quarterback. What he accomplished as a rookie with more than 3,500 passing yards and more than 500 rushing yards was done previously by only five players. Only Cam Newton did it as a rookie.

Murray plays the hardest position and met every expectation of being the No. 1 pick, in addition to proving wrong all the critics about concerns about his size, style of play and experience in college. He set the rookie record for passes without an interception. He set franchise rookie records and franchise records.

It is reasonable to say perhaps Bosa was the overall top rookie. But Murray shouldn’t be any lower than No. 2 on the list.

No other Cardinals rookie made the top 50, including Byron Murphy, who started every game at cornerback for Arizona.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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Cardinals offseason positional outlook: Outside linebackers

Chandler Jones is a certainty. The other spot is up for grabs.

The Arizona Cardinals got great play and not so great play from their edge linebacker position in 2019. As we look ahead to the offseason, let’s look at what is to come. We will look back at how they did, the current roster and what questions are in the offseason.

2019 review

(AP Photo/Steve Luciano)

2019 was all about Chandler Jones being great and everyone else being not very good.

Jones set a franchise record with 19 sacks and had eight forced fumbles. He was half a sack short of the league lead and, had he had one more sack, he probably would have been Defensive Player of the Year.

Outside of Jones, the outside linebackers on the roster produced 10 sacks. 5.5 of them came from Terrell Suggs, who started the season with two in the season opener but had only half a sack in the final six games with the Cardinals before he was released. He was a huge disappointment.

Haason Reddick moved to outside linebacker and showed some potential, while Cassius Marsh produced minimally.

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Report: D.J. Humphries’ contract not as team-friendly as initially believed

His 2021 money fully guarantees next month.

The Arizona Cardinals announced a three-year contract extension for left tackle D.J. Humphries earlier in the week and the details of the deal were reported on Thursday.

Initially, it looked like a fantastic deal for the Cardinals and a solid deal for Humphries.

It isn’t as team-friendly as initially believed, according to the Arizona Republic’s Kent Somers.

He only counts roughly $12.8 million against the salary cap in 2020 and, if he were to play poorly, they could cut him after only one season and only carry $1.6 million in dead money in 2021.

Initially, it was reported that his 2021 salary of $15.1 million was only guaranteed for injury and would fully guarantee in March of 2021.

Somers reports something different.

According to his source, the second year of Humphries’ deal becomes fully guaranteed next month. So, essentially, Humphries’ first two years are fully guaranteed.

This contract structure matches the one given to running back David Johnson. The first two years of the deal were basically locked in. And it makes sense, the same agents to put together Johnson’s deal also constructed Humphries’.

This isn’t to say the deal is bad for the Cardinals. It just means they are tied to Humphries for two years no matter what. In 2022, if things are not working out with him for whatever reason, they can unload him with only $800,000 in dead money against the cap.

It is good for Humphries. He gets two years of money guaranteed. He can potentially hit free agency again at age 29 and cash in once more.

The Cardinals take a lower cap hit than using one of the tags this offseason and aren’t committed to him for too long, should injuries become a problem again.

It is still a good deal. It just isn’t as good for the Cardinals as initially believed.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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Cardinals offseason positional outlook: Inside linebacker

What is coming this offseason for the Cardinals at linebacker?

We continue with our look at each position group for the Arizona Cardinals this offseason. We now move to an area of focus — inside linebacker.

Let’s look at how the position did in 2019, what the roster looks like and the offseason questions and outlook.

2019 review

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Jordan Hicks, one of the biggest free agent additions for 2019, paid off. He played all 16 games and played every single snap on defense. This was significant because it was the first time since 2016 that he played in all 16 games.

He was a league leader in tackles with 150 and was very productive. He had three interceptions, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

Haason Reddick began the season as the starter next to Hicks but gradually saw his role reduced. Joe Walker was the base linebacker and Reddick in sub packages. Eventually, Walker completely replaced him and Reddick moved to outside linebacker.

Walker finished with 65 tackles and a forced fumble.

It was very clear the Cardinals need more from the position.

Dennis Gardeck was a standout on special teams, earning a Pro Bowl alternate nod.

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Full details of D.J. Humphries’ new contract extension

His cap hit for the 2020 season will be up to $12.8 million. The Cardinals have about $40 million in cap space available now for 2020.

Earlier today, we found out the details of the base salary for Arizona Cardinals left tackle D.J. Humphries’ three-year contract extension. We have the rest of the information of his contract and his cap hit over the next three seasons.

According to Over the Cap, the contract is three years and worth up to $44.25 million.

He receives only a $2.4 million signing bonus, so his prorated cap hit is $800,000 each year.

Here is the year-by-year breakdown:

  • 2020: $11.5 million fully-guaranteed salary and a per-game roster bonus worth up to $500,000. His cap hit will be a maximum of $12.8 million.
  • 2021: $15.1 million salary guaranteed for injury only. It vests to a fully-guaranteed salary at some point in the 2021 new year league. He can earn up to $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses. His cap hit will be a maximum of $16.4 million.
  • 2022: He receives a $500,000 roster bonus. His salary will be $13.25 million and can earn up to $500,000 in a per-game roster bonus. His cap hit will be a maximum of $15.05 million.

Before Humphries’ deal, the Cardinals had more than $53 million in salary cap for 2020. With Humphries’ contract on the books, the Cardinals now have about $40 million in cap space to use.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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Cardinals’ signing of Sam Bradford is one of NFL’s biggest free agent disasters

He signed for a $20 million deal but only played three games.

Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim spoke to the high rate of failure in big free agent signings recently. He said free agents getting at least $5 million dollars only have a 40% success rate in the league.

There have been some famously bad free agent contracts given out over the years. The Cardinals have been guilty of it recently.

Their signing of quarterback Sam Bradford in 2018 makes a list of epic disasters in free agency, according to Touchdown Wire.

The Cardinals signed oft-injured Sam Bradford to a $20 million contract for the 2018 season. Bradford played terribly in three games before getting cut. As a result, the Cardinals were forced to feed rookie Josh Rosen to the wolves.

Bradford was supposed to be the safe veteran to help the Cardinals be competitive until Rosen was ready to start. Bradford never looked right.

Signing Bradford at the time felt like a move the Cardinals needed to make. Unfortunately, it ended up being one of the worst free agent signings ever.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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D.J. Humphries’ new contract is mostly all salary

His cap hit is expected to be higher than most believed it would be.

The Arizona Cardinals announced a new contract for left tackle D.J. Humphries this week that keeps him in Arizona through 2022. The initial report said his three-year deal is worth $45 million.

It is not structured the way you would things.

He did not get a big signing bonus to lighten the salary cap hit in 2020.

According to the NFLPA salary database, almost $40 million of the $45 million is in base salary.

This is what he is scheduled to make in salary the next three seasons:

  • 2020: $11.5 million
  • 2021: $15.1 million
  • 2022: $13.25 million

That only leaves a possible $5.15 million available for a signing bonus.

Let’s say the signing bonus is $5 million and the remaining $150,000 is in miscellaneous roster or workout bonuses.

That would mean his prorated cap hit would only be $1.67 million. His 2020 cap hit would be $13.2 million.

That is less than the $16.1 million the franchise tag would have been or the estimated $14.4 million for the transition tag, but he will have a larger cap hit this year than many expected.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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Report: NFL could expand playoffs in 2020

Each conference would have three wild-card teams and only the top seed would get a bye week.

The NFL could have a new collective bargaining agreement soon and that is expected to have expanded playoffs in 2020, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

In 2020, each conference would have a third wild-card team, making a total of 14 teams. Previously, the top two seeds in each conference would receive a first-round bye. Under the new proposal, only the top seed would get a bye, with the three other division winners hosting the three wild-card teams.

Another change would give the team with a playoff bye a playoff paycheck, something that previously has not been done.

According to Schefter’s report, this playoff expansion was agreed upon a long time ago and received little disagreement.

A new CBA could be agreed upon soon. It would include the playoff expansion and could also have a reduced preseason and expanded regular season.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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Front seven will be Cardinals’ defensive focus in offseason

Steve Keim said the team wants to find another pass rusher, an inside linebacker and defensive linemen.

The Arizona Cardinals struggled mightily on defense in 2019 and they plan on making improvements to that side of the ball in the offseason. However, general manager Steve Keim doesn’t see a need to address every level of the defense.

“We just want to get better and obviously the defense is an area where we have to improve, particularly the front seven,” he said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Keim said he was pleased with the play at safety of Budda Baker, a Pro Bowler, and Jalen Thompson. It appears he doesn’t have plans to do much at cornerback, as Patrick Peterson returns, Robert Alford should be healthy and Byron Murphy “did some nice things” as a rookie and should improve in Year 2.

So the offseason focus on the defense?

“To me, it’s the front seven,” he said. “Getting someone opposite Chandler (Jones), another linebacker inside and more defensive line help to give Vance Joseph a chance to have success this year.”

Look for the Cardinals to try and add at least three defensive starters in free agency.

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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. 258

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Ep. 257

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