Arizona Cardinals’ players existing on the periphery
By Jim Koch
There are veterans of the Arizona Cardinals who every offseason must fight tooth and nail to remain with the organization
There are players, each and every year, that are promised nothing from the Arizona Cardinals. They show up for every team activity, plowing through each monotonous drill. Knowing full well that their spot on the squad is anything but guaranteed.
Jaron Brown is one of those players. The wide receiver has hung around, never approaching the top of the depth chart. An undrafted free agent in 2013, the wideout has tallied 55 receptions for 700 yards and five touchdowns in limited playing time.
Brown has his work cut out for him this year. The 6’2″, 205 pounder is coming back from a torn ACL he suffered last October. Besides that, the Cardinals are loaded at receiver, so making the team will be even more difficult than it was in past years.
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Another receiver, Brittan Golden, also arrived as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He has just 13 career catches, and finally scored his first NFL touchdown last season. Golden has performed well on special teams but, like Brown, may fall victim to a numbers game at wide receiver.
2017 may at last be the year that Kerwynn Williams reaches the next level. Signed as a free agent in 2014, the running back obviously won’t be starting with David Johnson on the roster. But his sparkling career rushing average (5.6 yards per carry) gives him a good shot at being the Cards’ number-two.
Kareem Martin has put up fairly pedestrian numbers for a third-round draft pick. Since being selected in 2014, the outside linebacker has amassed an unimpressive 27 tackles and three and a half sacks. The fact that he was taken so high in the draft could be the reason he’s still in Arizona.
Another of the Cardinals’ 2014 draft picks, defensive end Ed Stinson, has also underachieved. His 26 career tackles and one quarterback sack may not be enough to keep him in the desert much longer.
All five of the Cards mentioned in this piece will once again be fighting to stay with the club for the upcoming campaign. And not one of them is a shoo-in to do so. The NFL’s periphery is not a fun place to reside.