Arizona Cardinals: No concern with lack of money
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals reportedly currently have around $22 million to spend against the salary cap
The Arizona Cardinals do not have a lot of money to spend in free agency this spring. They also have a number of their own free agents to deal with. We know that too.
They will not be able to keep everyone. We’ve documented a number of pieces about defensive tackle Calais Campbell and safety Tony Jefferson.
If the Cardinals are to have a chance to even keep one of them, they will have to part with some current players. That’s the business side of the NFL for you.
So who do you rid of? For me, if cornerback Justin Bethel was a “failure in progress” in December, has anything really changed since then? The Cardinals only played three more games after head coach Bruce Arians made that statement.
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It is never easy to move on from a guy like Bethel who you’ve invested so much into but if you really want guys like Jefferson to remain, there is only so much you can do. There will be players the Cardinals will want to re-sign as well.
So don’t look for any huge splashes in free agency from the Cardinals but I imagine that general manager Steve Keim has already identified some players he wants to target and what he will need to do in order to get them.
By this time next week, free agency will have started. Look for a lot to change with the Cardinals roster starting next Thursday.
It might even start happening prior to next Thursday if the Cardinals plan to cut anyone. In the end, the Cardinals will still be able to put a good product on the field in 2017.
The lack of money the Cardinals have honestly is not a huge concern to me. You don’t usually build Super Bowl rosters just from free agency. It helps, but it isn’t the end all to be all.