Who are some of the winners of this offseason based on the moves the Cardinals made?
It has been an up-and-down offseason for the Arizona Cardinals to this point. They made a splash move by acquiring former Ravens receiver Marquise Brown to pair with the already explosive passing offense. Outside of that, however, the team has done little to replace the free agents that departed.
There are always winners and losers of every offseason. Front office moves can directly help or hinder a player on the roster.
Let’s take a look at the winners of this offseason for Arizona.
Cardinals left tackle D.J. Humphries is confident a contract extension will get done.
After an up-and-down first few seasons in the league, left tackle D.J. Humphries has become a mainstay on the Arizona Cardinals offense and a fan favorite.
In 2019, the Cardinals signed Humphries to a three-year extension after a solid season. They were banking on him to stay healthy for their ascending quarterback in Kyler Murray.
Humphries has done just that, appearing in almost every game for the Cardinals since signing the deal. He missed some time due to COVID-19 late last season, which also impacted his play. Prior to catching the virus, he started 47 consecutive games.
Set to be a free agent following this season, Humphries was asked about his thoughts on a potential contract extension. He isn’t worried. He knows he is in demand and a contract will come.
“Hell yeah,” he said. “Left tackles don’t grow on trees, baby.”
He’s right. Many of the league’s top left tackles have been given extremely lucrative contract extensions in the past year. His previous contract had an average of nearly $15 million per year, while left tackles now are getting into the $20 million range.
“My plan was to play here my whole career,” Humphries said.
The Cardinals could create some much-needed cap space for this season by extending Humphries. He currently has just over a $19 million cap hit for this season, which could be re-worked into his new deal. The team could use some extra cap space to potentially fill out the edge rusher and cornerback positions before the season starts.
Left tackles most certainly don’t grow on trees. The Cardinals would be wise to extend theirs now as the price tag for the position continues to increase.
PFF ranked Kliff Kingsbury as the fourth-best head coach in the NFL, just behind three coaches certain to be Hall of Famers.
During his time as Arizona Cardinals head coach, Kliff Kingsbury has been subject of both praise and criticism. The team has improved every year since his arrival but the last two promising seasons collapsed late in the year.
Pro Football Focus, one of the top football analyst outlets, created a tier list ranking all head coaches in the NFL. The first tier was for Hall of Fame coaches, where only three were listed. Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh and Andy Reid make up that list.
No. 4 on the list, however, is none other than Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. He’s ranked ahead of Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan and even division rival Sean McVay.
The list is based on their projections for every head coach with a neutral roster. So, hypothetically, if every NFL team was the exact same, Pro Football Focus believes Kingsbury is the fourth-best head coach in the league.
Here’s what PFF had to say about Kingsbury:
Outside of quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, Kingsbury has not had much to work with in terms of offensive talent in the desert, yet he’s still managed to make the offense hum. Unfortunately, Kingsbury has left much to be desired on the defensive side of the ball thus far.
The first part of that statement is true when looking at the majority of Kingsbury’s tenure in Arizona. He had a complete offensive arsenal for the first half of 2021 until DeAndre Hopkins went down for the season. The rest of his time, however, the team hasn’t had enough playmakers.
The latter half of that statement is interesting because the Cardinals leave essentially all of the defensive work to Vance Joseph, allowing Kingsbury to focus on the offense.
Do you believe Kingsbury is deserving of this grade? Or do you think he may after another season or two?
Evaluating the projected starting roster for the 2020 Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals starting roster for the 2020 season is all but set, minus the anticipated “Keim-time” free agent signing or two late in the offseason. The team and its fanbase are very excited for the upcoming year given the wave of talent acquired in this offseason.
So, where would all the Cardinals starters rank in tiers based on individual talents and success? We’ll dive into that today.
I would like to thank my good friend Vic (@Cardinalselite on Instagram and Twitter) for working on this project with me.
Tier 1: Elite
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
These players are in the prime of their careers and are classified amongst the best in their respective positions across the entire NFL landscape. They are producing at extremely high levels and demonstrate off-the-field leadership in their community.
WR DeAndre Hopkins
OLB Chandler Jones
With only two players making this tier, one has never played a down for the Cardinals. Nevertheless, DeAndre Hopkins is one of the three best receivers in football and has put up extraordinary numbers during his seven years in the league. He’s proven his dominance and has been playing at this level for some time now. He should ignite the Cardinals offense into something special this fall.
Chandler Jones is finally getting the appreciation he deserves from the rest of the NFL following an incredible 19 sack year that put him second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. As of today, Jones is the best edge rusher in the league and seems to be getting better each year. In the middle of his prime, Jones is the best player on defense for the Cardinals and another strong year from him is paramount for the team to make the jump in 2020.
