Arizona Cardinals Deal With Mike Iupati For Five Years

The Arizona Cardinals have spent good money to bring in one of the NFL’s best run blockers

The Arizona Cardinals have received the run blocker they’ve desperately needed for a long time. Guard Mike Iupati has jumped ship from the San Francisco 49ers and will be a staple on the Cardinals offensive line for at least the next five years.

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The Arizona Cardinals have made a splash I quite honestly didn’t expect them to make. Iupati as I told many yesterday was not on the radar, at least from my standpoint. He is just one of many 49ers leaving that contender and joining another.

Iupati’s deal is going to be for five years and $40 million. That breaks down in simple math to $8 million per year. If you are the Arizona Cardinals, you aren’t spending that kind of money if you don’t plan on upgrading your running game as well. Andre Ellington is still a huge part of the running game in Arizona but this certainly has to mean that the Cardinals will be adding a running back.

Mike Iupati's deal with Arizona: 5 yrs, $40M, plus incentives up to $41M with $22.5M guaranteed.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2015

That’s a lot of guaranteed money for sure. The Cardinals are making an investment here no doubt. So if you look at the Cardinals offensive line as it stands, you have Jared Veldheer, Bobby Massie, and now Mike Iupati. If the Cardinals do not add a center, which with the addition of Iupati that is questionable, then you are probably looking at Ted Larsen as the center in 2015 if these moves mean the end of Lyle Sendlein’s time in Arizona.

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