Arizona Cardinals: Ranking GM Steve Keim’s 10 best transactions

6. Giving veterans a second shot

Admittingly, Keim’s reclamation veteran projects weren’t just his doing; Bruce Arians believed in doing so and it was a key part of his philosophy. But, it’s hard to argue against Keim’s results concerning reclamation, veteran projects. Because some of the Cardinals’ teams were led by those very players.

Let’s take a look at some of Keim’s better veteran acquisitions over the years, including their statistics as a Cardinal:

• Chris Johnson – RB: 277 touches, 1,124 scrimmage yards, 4 scrimmage touchdowns
• Karlos Dansby – LB: (second stint stats) 95 total tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks
• Red Bryant – NT: 5 total tackles
• Dwight Freeney – EDGE: 9 total tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 8.0 sacks
• Carson Palmer – QB: 16,782 yards, 105 touchdowns, 57 interceptions
• Frostee Rucker – DL: 110 total tackles, 31 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks
• Antoine Bethea – S: 178 total tackles, 13 pass deflections
• Phil Dawson – K: 37 field goals, 41 extra points

Those are just eight names of Keim’s several veteran additions over the years. Most of these players were considered to be another team’s trash, but Keim proved that they were the Cardinals’ treasure. As you can see above, that’s a lot of production from players most considered to be over the hill.