Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Cardinals have a young team. These rookies have at least a reasonable shot at being in the starting lineup.
The Arizona Cardinals have 20 rookies on their roster. They drafted nine players and have 11 undrafted rookies they added since the draft.
Many will be lucky to make the team. Some should have contributing roles.
Some have a real shot at being starters.
Which rookies are those?
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Johnson signed his four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth more than $28 million.
Offensive lineman Paris Johnson, the Arizona Cardinals’ first-round selection in the 2023 NFL draft last month, signed his four-year rookie deal last week. It is a four-year contract with a team option for a fifth season, which all first-round draft picks have.
We now know the details of the contract, thanks to Over the Cap and PHNX’s Howard Balzer.
The deal is for four years and a fully guaranteed almost $28.1 million.
He receives a signing bonus of more than $17.4 million.
According to Balzer, on the third day of training camp in 2024, 2025 and 2026, he will receive roster bonuses of $1.11 million, $2.27 million and $3.43 million.
His base salary for each season will be the following:
Per Balzer, he holds the 10th-highest cap number on the team in 2023. His cap number will be the following each year:
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Johnson, the Cardinals’ first-round pick, tells the story of how he decided on a Pat Tillman jersey.
When Arizona Cardinals first-round draft pick Paris Johnson showed up to rookie minicamp wearing a Pat Tillman jersey, the collective response from the public was, “this guy gets it.”
That was the exact caption the Cardinals’ social media team put on the tweet with Johnson in the jersey.
this guy gets it.@ParisJohnsonJr with the Pat Tillman tribute 👏 pic.twitter.com/pooqg4QJon
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) May 11, 2023
He didn’t plan on wearing the jersey to rookie camp. It just happened that way, he told reporters on Friday after the first day of practice.
He said that, after he was drafted and was flown out to Arizona to be introduced to the media, on the flight back home, he thought, “I’ve got to get some Arizona stuff.”
He knew he would get a lot of team-issued gear, so he went jersey shopping.
He didn’t buy one of his own, thinking, “If I were go around wearing my own jersey, that looks cheesy.”
“I was scrolling and I saw the Pat Tillman jersey and I was, ‘oh snap,'” he said. “Then I saw the legacy one, the original from 2000 and I was, ‘okay, that’s the one.”
Plus, it was on sale.
The Tillman jersey had a little extra meaning. His father was a teammate and played safety with Tillman in 1999 when he was drafted by the Cardinals. His mother met Tillman.
When Johnson was getting ready to come out for rookie camp, he had already shipped a lot of his things and had to decide what to wear. Almost like a sign, thee jersey was in the closet facing Johnson, and he knew that is what he needed to wear.
Johnson shared an interesting fact.
“He’s actually the only jersey I have,” he said. “I’ve never owned a jersey with anybody else’s name on it.”
Johnson doesn’t have basketball jerseys or other football jerseys. He only recently got his own Ohio State Jersey.
It’s a cool story and also a good way to get connected with hard-core Cardinals fans.
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Paris Johnson, Michael Wilson, Jon Gaines, Clayton Tune and Owen Pappoe all signed their rookie contracts before the start of rookie minicamp.
The Arizona Cardinals were able to get over half their 2023 draft class under contract before the start of rookie minicamp on Friday. The team announced five of their nine draft picks signed their rookie contracts, including first-round pick Paris Johnson.
These were the draft picks to sign on Thursday at the team’s headquarters in Tempe.
Johnson’s contract, as a first-round pick, is four years with a team option for a fifth year.
The rest of the draft picks signed standard four-year contracts.
The following draft picks remain unsigned:
With how rookie contracts are slotted and designed in the current collective bargaining agreement, there is no reason to think that the remaining draft picks won’t get signed in the near future.
Rookie holdouts are basically a thing of the past.
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Projecting the rookie stats for the Arizona Cardinals draft class of 2023
With the NFL draft over and rookie camps underway, it is a good time to evaluate the draft picks and see what kind of impacts the projected contributors will make.
Let’s take a look at the Arizona Cardinals draft picks and project some stats for the early role players:
He was shocked to find that Murray knew Johnson’s name.
The Arizona Cardinals’ first-round draft pick was offensive lineman Paris Johnson. He was the player quarterback Kyler Murray wanted the team to select and made it known in the building before it happened.
Murray was in the building when Johnson was on his top-30 visit with the Cardinals and instigated an interaction that left Johnson star-struck.
Johnson recalled it after he was drafted.
“In my Top 30 visit, I got some food here, walking through this hallway over here, and I look around the corner and I see him. I give him a head nod, trying to act all cool,” explained. “I’m not trying to act a fanboy, but I’m like, ‘What’s good?’ And then he’s like, ‘P, come here.’ And I’m like, ‘Yo, he knows me!’
“So, I’m walking over and I’m texting my teammate Luke Wypler, ‘Dude, Kyler Murray knows who I am.’ So, I’m acting all cool and texting him. And he goes, ‘Yo Paris, what’s up? I’ve seen you play, I’ve seen your Pro Day, I’ve seen all this. I love what I see. I see how hard you play, the tenacity, the finish, and I’d love for you to block for me.’ It’s coming from a franchise guy. He said it before I had a chance to say it’d be an honor to play for him. He said it first, coming out of his mouth first. That’s huge. That’s an honor. I respect that, so that’s amazing.”
Now Johnson will be tasked with blocking for Murray.
This looks like it is going to be a great fit.
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The Cardinals’ selection of OL Paris Johnson in the first round deserves a grade of ‘A.’
The Arizona Cardinals made former Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson their first-round selection of the 2023 NFL draft, picking him No. 6 overall.
While he has not yet played a down or even suited up for practice, we must grade the pick.
Grades are more based on fit, need, talent and value where the player is selected.
What do the Cardinals deserve for the selection of Johnson?
There is really nothing not to like about the pick.
Johnson was widely considered the best lineman in the draft, worthy of the top pick. As a tackle, he fits the value of the pick positionally.
He has the athletic traits. He fills a need. He is versatile. He is intelligent. He is a great fit off the field.
There are no character concerns.
And if you factor in the fact that the Cardinals were, in the process of getting to the sixth pick, were able to add a 2024 first-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick in addition to selecting Johnson, how can they get anything other than an A?
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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 Spotify.
Paris’ father, Paris Johnson, was drafted by the Cardinals in 1999. He wants to finish what his father started with the team.
Offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. was the Arizona Cardinals’ first-round selection in the 2023 NFL draft when they used the No. 6 overall pick to acquire him. However, he is not the first Paris Johnson the Cardinals have ever drafted.
The Cardinals drafted Johnson’s father, Paris Johnson, was drafted by the Cardinals No. 155 overall (in the fifth round) in 1999.
He was a defensive back out of Miami of Ohio.
He never made the team and never played a game in the NFL.
Getting drafted by the Cardinals was extra special for the first-round pick.
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“I’m supposed to finish what my dad started,” Johnson said on a conference call after he was drafted, noting how his father was drafted by the Cardinals previously. “I know my family had high expectations, and unfortunately, he didn’t meet those expectations.”
Johnson will definitely have his chance to make an impact. He should find his way into the starting lineup somehow, whether it is at guard or tackle.
While his father wasn’t able to succeed in the pros, the younger Johnson appears set to do exactly what he seeks to do — finish what his father started.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
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Cardinals first-round pick Paris Johnson had a whirlwind couple of days Thursday and Friday. See some photos from his draft experience.
The Arizona Cardinals made tackle Paris Johnson their first pick of the 2023 NFL draft. They maneuvered a bit in the first round to make him their selection.
They originally had the third overall pick, traded down to No. 12 and then moved up to No. 6.
He was viewed by and large as the best offensive lineman in the draft class.
He is athletic, smart and has great character. He was the player quarterback Kyler Murray reportedly wanted the team to draft.
It was a crazy couple of days for him.
He attended the draft in Kansas City and then was flown in to Arizona to be introduced to the media on Friday.
Below are photos from his crazy 24 hours, starting at before the draft, after he was the Cardinals’ selection and then after the draft and the next day when he was in Tempe.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
The Cardinals had to trade back and trade back up to be able to select Johnson.
The Arizona Cardinals made Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. It came with some movement.
They had the No. 3 pick, traded down to No. 12 and then traded up to No. 6.
Johnson was a two-year starter at Ohio State, playing right guard in 2021 and left tackle last season.
He was the player quarterback Kyler Murray wanted the team to draft.
He could potentially start at left guard and he could compete for the right tackle job with Josh Jones and Kelvin Beachum.
What do you think of the pick? Give your grade in the poll.
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