Arizona Cardinals: Free agency grades
By Scott Allen
A.Q. Shipley
Shipley may have been the easiest decision to make of the free agent signings so far. He comes back a relatively cheap price and is someone familiar with Palmer and the Cardinals schemes.
Shipley spent the 2016 season as the starting center. After struggling to land the spot when he first signed with the Cardinals in 2015, he became one of the more solid players for the Cardinals on the offensive line last season.
He couldn’t nail the job down in 2015, so the Cardinals brought Lyle Sendlein in to do the job for one more season. In 2016 however he had to compete with rookie Evan Boehm. Boehm still needed to mature as an NFL player however, so Shipley was the guy.
It made this move a no-brainer. Low-cost/low-risk. He’s not a household name but he gets the job done. At the end of the day, that’s all you want from your center. He and Palmer work well with each other.