Arizona Cardinals Win Day Two of NFL Free Agency

December 23, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall (34) rushes the ball past Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Terence Newman (23) during the fourth quarter at Heinz Field. The Cincinnati Bengals won 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals were the busiest team in the NFL on day two of free agency.  That doesn’t always mean they did the best job, however today it sure seemed that way.  The Cardinals added five players (so far), and dropped one.  They have a few others they are still looking at.  The biggest signings arguably were quarterback Drew Stanton and running back Rashard Mendenhall.

Stanton signed a three-year deal, longer than I expected his deal to be.  That could spell the end to Kevin Kolb’s career in Arizona.  As for Mendenhall, there is some mixed reaction, however it is a one-year contract with incentives.  He could play his way into a better deal in the next off-season.

Others moving to Arizona are linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, who was spurned by his former team, the Washington Redskins, at the last minute.  They also lured cornerback Jerraud Powers away from the Indianapolis Colts.  Finally the Cards added safety Yeremiah Bell who played last season with the New York Jets after nine seasons in Miami.

Alexander reportedly was set to re-sign with the Redskins until they changed their offer late.  I don’t know all the details of that change but it angered him enough to bolt for Arizona.  The Cards may not be done with linebackers.  A couple of others are rumored to be thinking of joining the Cards.

Bell is not known by many in Arizona, however he does have a Pro Bowl appearance under his belt in 2009.  He supposedly will replace Kerry Rhodes, who was released by the Cardinals Wednesday afternoon.  That move was a little bit of a surprise to me.  Of course the move was made to add others, I just never thought of Rhodes being a guy they were willing to dump to make other moves.  He will be missed.