Four remaining draft picks sign with the Arizona Cardinals
By Jim Koch
The Arizona Cardinals front office has reached contract agreements with the final four selections of their 2020 rookie class
It may have taken longer than expected, but the Arizona Cardinals finally got it done. Three months after they were selected, the club’s 2020 draft class is finally under contract. Top picks Isaiah Simmons and Josh Jones got the ball rolling by signing with the Cards on Tuesday, possibly prompting the remaining rookies to come to terms just one day later.
Fourth-round choices Leki Fotu and Rashard Lawrence, sixth-rounder Evan Weaver and seventh-round addition Eno Benjamin have all been inked to four-year contracts. The deal that Jones agreed to the day before is also of the four-year variety. Simmons, the draft’s eighth-overall selection, is the only one of the youngsters who obtained a fifth-year option from Arizona.
Fotu was likely brought to the desert to eventually take over for Corey Peters at the squad’s nose tackle spot. The 21-year old has the size (6’5, 240) and talent to be an immovable presence in the middle of the Cardinals defensive line. Peters, who turned 32 years of age last month, will be a free agent at the conclusion of the upcoming campaign.
Arizona also has high hopes for Lawrence, a defensive tackle who was a three-year captain with the LSU Tigers. The 6’2, 309 pounder, like Fotu, will almost certainly begin his professional career as a backup. Standing in Lawrence’s way for now is Jordan Phillips, a free agent acquisition who recorded 31 tackles and 9.5 sacks for the Buffalo Bills last season.
Weaver, an inside linebacker from the University of California, will also be riding the bench for awhile. Jordan Hicks and De’Vondre Campbell will be the starters, with Simmons expected to be used on the interior as well. Weaver’s future in the league looks bright, however, after the 6’3, 235 pounder led the nation with 173 tackles in 2019.
Next. Simmons is in the fold for Cardinals. dark
Eno Benjamin, a running back out of Arizona State University, rounds out the group. The former Sun Devil is currently third on the Cards depth chart, behind Kenyan Drake and Chase Edmonds. Even so, it would not be surprising to see Benjamin carve out some sort of role in the “Air Raid” offense this fall.