More offensive line issues for Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals sent another offensive lineman to injured reserve on Tuesday

It seems like a broken record, tell me if you’ve heard this one before.  The Arizona Cardinals have an injured offensive lineman and now his season is over.

So you have heard that one before, I thought so.  On Tuesday, offensive lineman Marcus Gilbert was placed on injured reserve, ending his season.

The right tackle was acquired in a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason.  His injury history was known but with as poorly as the Cardinals offensive line has played over the past few seasons, it was a risk Cardinals general manager Steve Keim had to take.

Gilbert reportedly injured himself last week in practice.  He was ruled out of the season opener against the Detroit Lions.  Now, his season has ended even began.

To offset the loss, the Cardinals have signed tackle Jordan Mills.  He last played for the Buffalo Bills from 2015 until last season.  He signed with the Miami Dolphins one a one-year contract however he was waived the last week of August.

People can try to blame Keim all they want for the players he acquires, Cardinals fans seem to like making a hobby out of it.  However the truth is, Keim couldn’t forsee a torn ACL from Gilbert, even given his past history with injury.

The way it should be looked at is Keim tried.  He is trying to better the offensive line as best he can.  There are only so many quality linemen out there.  Some moves will pan out, some won’t.

Keim is not blameless in how the offensive line has been constructed in the past.  People blamed him for not drafting a lineman in this year’s draft.  However the Cardinals haven’t exactly had the best luck drafting linemen recently.

It is sad to see Gilbert not get a shot to see what he could do for this team in 2019.  We’ll see what happens in 2020.  For now, Mills is the new guy.  Hopefully he will work out.