Arizona Cardinals’ penny-pinching cost them talented safety
By Jim Koch
An embarrassing contract proposal by the Arizona Cardinals cost the franchise the services of free agent safety Tre Boston
The Arizona Cardinals must have had some interest in safety Tre Boston. The talented free agent admitted that the club “rolled out the red carpet” for him during his visit to the desert last month. In the end though, the Cards’ front office did something that basically made the meeting a complete waste of time.
Arizona, according to Boston himself, made the playmaker a “very disrespectful” contract offer. The proposal couldn’t have been for less money. The 25-year old, who would’ve had a strong chance at starting for the squad, was offered no more than the veteran’s minimum salary.
Not surprisingly, Boston said no to the Cardinals. The one-time Carolina Panther, a former disciple of new Cards’ head coach Steve Wilks, had already signed a one-year “prove-it” deal last year. Right on cue, Boston turned in the best performance of his career for the 2017 Los Angeles Chargers.
In 16 appearances (15 starts), Boston tallied 79 tackles, five interceptions and eight passes defensed for the Chargers, seemingly earning himself some righteous cash going forward. The former fourth-round draft pick of the Panthers is obviously having some trouble cashing in on his best statistical campaign, however.
It has been a dead free agent market for safeties this offseason. For whatever the reason, top-flight defenders such as Boston, Kenny Vaccaro, Eric Reid and Mike Mitchell remain unemployed. A phenomenon that Arizona general manager Steve Keim unsuccessfully tried to take advantage of by low-balling Boston.
The fact that safeties are having such a hard time getting paid should be of no relevance to the Cardinals. As it currently stands, the team’s depth at the position is woefully inadequate. Behind projected starters Antoine Bethea and Budda Baker, sit inexperienced backups like Rudy Ford, Zeke Turner, A.J. Howard and Jonathan Owens.
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According to Spotrac.com, the Cards are roughly $13.4 million under the NFL’s salary cap. Surely, Keim could’ve found more cash to fork over for a player of Boston’s caliber. Unfortunately for the fans, it appears that the organization’s penny-pinching ways are no longer a thing of the past.