Among the Arizona Cardinals players who will be free agents next month if they do not sign a contract extension with the team is starting left tackle D.J. Humphries. He has stated before he doesn’t want to hit free agency and wants to remain with the Cardinals.
The feeling appears to be mutual, according to Cardinals chairman and president Michael Bidwill. And it appears the Cardinals could use one of the tools at their disposal to keep Humphries around at least another year.
“We’d like to have him back and we also have the tag out there, the franchise tag, that we can use,” Bidwill said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on Wednesday. “We’ll see where we end up.”
The Cardinals have both the franchise tag and the transition tag they can use to keep Humphries from hitting free agency. The franchise tag would pay Humphries a little more than $16 million for 2020. Depending on whether they use the exclusive or non-exclusive tag, Humphries could negotiate with other teams and the Cardinals could match or let him go and receive two first-round draft picks. Using the transition tag on him would pay him more than $14 million for 2020 but allow him to negotiate with other teams, but the Cardinals could match the offer.
Teams commonly use the tags to extend the window of contract negotiations.
If they are going to use one of the available tags on Humphries, they must do it between February 25 and March 10. They must have a multi-year extension in place by July 15 or they cannot negotiate a longer deal until after the 2020 season.
Humphries, the team’s 2015 first-round draft pick, made it through a season healthy for the first time since he began playing. His rookie season he was inactive all year. He finished 2016 missing the final games with a concussion. In 2017 and 2018, knee injuries landed him on injured reserve.
He played all but two offensive snaps in 2019 and allowed only two sacks, although he was among the league’s leaders in penalties by offensive linemen.
He is a leader in the room and entering his prime.
Ideally, the Cardinals and Humphries can come to terms on a deal before the Cardinals have the chance to use the tag.
No matter how things play out, it appears Humphries probably will still be the team’s starting left tackle in 2020.
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Ep. 257
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Ep. 256
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