Tag: NFL remaining free agents

Pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul remains an intriguing option for Cardinals

Jason Pierre-Paul remains a free agent, one that could exponentially help the Cardinals defense

We are just over a week away from the Arizona Cardinals’ season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium. Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes will face a Cardinals defense with plenty of question marks, particularly at the edge rusher position.

The Cardinals have a slew of promising young players at the position but are missing a veteran presence following the departure of Chandler Jones to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jason Pierre-Paul, 33, remains a free agent and is the runaway best at his position left on the market. While Paul didn’t have the statistical numbers he would have liked last season, his 2020 season was very successful. He totaled 9.5 sacks and started every game.

Paul would be joining a similar attacking 3-4 defensive scheme in Vance Joseph’s defense, coming over from Todd Bowles’ unit in Tampa Bay. Assuming he has remained in playing shape, one could assume he would be a plug-and-play type of player.

The Cardinals released veteran OLB Devon Kennard from the active roster, opting to bring him back on the practice squad. They have question marks at the position with Markus Golden possibly holding in for a new contract.

Bringing in a Pro-Bowl caliber edge rusher like Paul, even at his age, would give the Cardinals defense a much-needed boost. It would alleviate some of the pressure on rookies and younger players at the position to perform at a high level immediately. A veteran like Paul could only help their development as well.

If the Cardinals went into week one with a veteran pass rush group of J.J. Watt, Markus Golden and Jason-Pierre-Paul, paired with their promising young talent, they’d be in a good place. The recent woes at the cornerback position would be aided by such a pass-rushing presence.

The Cardinals division and overall schedule this year is daunting. One can never have too many pass rushers.

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Should the Cardinals Sign Pro-Bowl S Earl Thomas?

Following the Cardinals’ 23-26 loss to the Detroit Lions and glaring needs at safety, should the Cardinals bite the bullet and sign Pro-Bowl safety Earl Thomas?

The Arizona Cardinals experienced one of their more gut-wrenching losses in recent memory to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, falling 23-26. The team has lost to worse teams before, but this one felt different for both the Cardinals and their fans. This team is full of talent and potential, but can’t seem to reach it.

Part of Sunday’s disappointing loss came as a result of a very thin secondary for the Cardinals. By the time Detroit was at midfield in their game-winning drive, the Cardinals had backup safeties to their backups playing. The result was Marvin Jones breaking a tackle to move Detroit into field-goal range.

The incredible Budda Baker played through a thumb injury that requires surgery, but his availability in the future is uncertain. He will have surgery this week.

Baker’s plans are to only miss next week’s game against Carolina, but that is far from a certainty. He could end up missing a few weeks. This injury unfortunately pairs with the injuries to safeties Jalen Thompson, who is on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and Chris Banjo, who left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.

So, what can the Cardinals do to add talent to their safety room? Many fans have expressed their desires to sign former Cardinal Tony Jefferson, though he does not appear ready to return to football as he recovers from a season-ending knee injury in 2019.

The obvious most talented option left for Arizona is none other than seven-time Pro-Bowler Earl Thomas III. After being an anchor in Seattle’s legendary Legion of Boom, Thomas signed with the Baltimore Ravens on a one-year deal. He was a large part of Baltimore’s stout 2019 defense. Thomas was released by Baltimore before the start of the season.

A seven-time Pro-Bowl and three-time First-Team All-Pro safety doesn’t get released in training camp very often. Thomas allegedly got into a fight with a teammate that led to him throwing a punch. This came months after he reportedly got into a scuffle with DT Brandon Williams after their loss to Cleveland. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has also reported Thomas missing or being late to some team meetings in his one-year stint with Baltimore.

Arizona would have to believe Thomas can prevent these type of incidents from occurring again for them to have any interest. There is certainly a risk in bringing a player into a locker room with that recent track record, but the payout if all works out is an All-Pro safety to bolster the secondary.

Budda Baker has settled in nicely in his role at free safety, which is the same role occupied by Thomas. While Baker has shown his positional versatility on the field, Thomas is usually locked into free safety. That becomes an issue when Baker returns, unless Vance Joseph wants to have Baker roam the field.

The bottom line is, Earl Thomas is a great player who makes the Arizona Cardinals better in the secondary. However, his release from Baltimore likely deters Steve Keim from bringing in the former All-Pro.

Depending on the status of Baker’s thumb surgery, Arizona would be better off adding one of the other free agent safeties given the hopeful short term injuries to their two starting safeties. Thomas may be a great player, but Arizona made Baker the highest-paid safety in the NFL. They rightfully believe in him.

Other free agent safeties include Tony Jefferson, Haha Clinton-Dix, Eric Reid and Demarius Randall. It would be a surprise if Arizona didn’t look into at least one of these options before Sunday’s game against the Panthers.

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Could the Cardinals find a way to sign Jadeveon Clowney?

Cardinals’ Chandler Jones and DeAndre Hopkins took to Instagram Saturday afternoon to express their interest in the Cardinals signing free agent DE Jadeveon Clowney.

Breaking news broke Saturday afternoon that All-Pro safety Jamal Adams had been traded from the New York Jets to the Seattle Seahawks. Adams is the third blockbuster trade in the NFC West in the past eight months, following the deals the L.A. Rams made for cornerback Jalen Ramse and the Arizona Cardinals made for receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

The Seahawks fanbase has primarily kept their focus on re-signing pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney this offseason, who has still yet to sign with a team.

With the inevitable massive contract extension for Adams now on Seattle’s plate, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that the door is all but closed on Clowney returning to the Seahawks.

Clowney has been linked to a few teams this offseason, among them being the Browns and the Titans. It has been mentioned that at this point in the year, Clowney is open to a one-year deal.

While there have been no reports that the Cardinals have been in contact with Clowney, two star players expressed their interest in bringing him to the desert.

DeAndre Hopkins took to Instagram following the Jamal Adams trade to express his desire to reunite with his former Houston teammate.

The Cardinals’ defensive superstar in Chandler Jones also expressed interest in lining up across from Clowney this season on a post from @cardinalselite on Instagram.

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I mean…

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Jones commented “LMK” on the post, and while fans can speculate as to exactly what he meant by that, it is evident he wants to see Clowney sign with the Cardinals.

So with the players vouching for Clowney, is it realistic for the team to make the move?

The Cardinals currently have only between $5-$6 million in available cap space, which isn’t near enough to meet Clowney’s contract demands. However, with Clowney now potentially seeking a one-year deal, the Cardinals could make it work.

Jess Root detailed ways in which the Cardinals could create more cap space back in March. All of the options are still available aside from trading David Johnson, which obviously already happened.

Given Jones’ enthusiasm for signing Clowney, the Cardinals may be able to extend or restructure his contract to raise their available cap.

Two viable options listed include trading OLB Haason Reddick and extending CB Patrick Peterson, the latter of which the Cardinals have already begun the negotiating process.

Another obstacle is the Cardinals having already signed OLB Devon Kennard to be their starter. While this doesn’t rule out adding another pass-rusher, it’s worth noting due to the fact that the Cardinals technically don’t have a need at edge rusher.

It would benefit Clowney to play across from Chandler Jones in a contract year, as he could put up great numbers to secure a long-term deal in the spring.

There are certainly obstacles, but should the Cardinals truly want to sign Jadeveon Clowney, they could do so.

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