Reunion between Arizona Cardinals and safety makes sense
By Jim Koch
Free agent safety Tony Jefferson‘s search for a new team could reach it’s conclusion with a return to the Arizona Cardinals
It’s coming up on three years now since the Arizona Cardinals lost a very productive component of their defensive backfield. Tony Jefferson, an undrafted free agent out of the University of Oklahoma, left town to sign a lucrative contract with the Baltimore Ravens. The safety had spent four impressive campaigns with the Cards, but Baltimore’s generous offer ( four years, $36 million) brought his tenure in the desert to an abrupt end.
This past Friday, Jefferson’s stint with the Ravens was also cut short. It appears that an inflated salary-cap figure led to the release of the 28-year old. Jefferson’s $11.66 million cap hit was apparently a bit too rich for a player who missed most of 2019 with a torn ACL.
Could the Cardinals attempt to reunite with Jefferson? The club has a number of holes to fill this offseason, and safety just happens to be one of them. Budda Baker occupies one of the position’s two slots, but Arizona could use an upgrade at the post next to the Pro Bowler.
Getting Jefferson back into the nest would certainly make sense. At the moment, second-year player Jalen Thompson is listed as the starter. The 21-year old performed adequately as a rookie last season, but a healthy Jefferson would have to be viewed as an upgrade for the Cards defense.
In 63 appearances (31 starts) with the Cardinals, Jefferson racked up 277 tackles, two interceptions, 11 passes defensed and five sacks. The veteran’s 35 starts with Baltimore included 174 tackles, two picks, 11 pass breakups and 3.5 sacks.
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At this point of his career, and coming off of a devastating injury to boot, the 5’11, 211 pound Jefferson will likely have to accept a one-year “prove-it” contract in 2020. Arizona general manager Steve Keim has had success on many occasions with those type of deals in the past. Perhaps a reunion between the organization and Jefferson will take place in time for next fall’s season opener.