The best and worst contracts on the Cardinals roster

See where the Cardinals have made good deals and not so good deals.

Worst: DL Jordan Phillips

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

This signing can look like one with great upside or could backfire in the end.

Former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips amassed 9.5 sacks last in 2019 under Bills coach Sean McDermott, a unit that ranked No. 12 in the league in sacks. However, Phillips will go from a highly talented defensive line to one that has not been good at creating sacks from the first-level with only four combined sacks from fellow defensive tackles Johnathan Bullard and Corey Peters. Phillips also has a highly-disappointing grade of 51.1 from PFF meaning that his sack total could very well be a product of a successful Sean McDermott system.

This potential gamble comes in the form of a three-year, $30 million contract with $18.5 million guaranteed. That is awfully steep for an unproven interior lineman with 5.5 sacks the previous years. While his strength is more of being a run stopper (66.0 run defense grade from PFF), his presence in the run game still may not make up for a $14.5 million dollar dead cap hit on a practical roll of the dice if he doesn’t work out.

All financial figures courtesy of Spotrac. Stats are provided by the NFL and Pro Football Focus.

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Ep. 262

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Ep. 261

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