High-priced free agent Jordan Phillips has done very little in his first season with the defensive unit of the Arizona Cardinals
Back in March, the front office of the Arizona Cardinals acquired a very intriguing player for their defense. Jordan Phillips, a defensive tackle who was fresh off of an outstanding season for the Buffalo Bills, was recruited to the desert. The 28-year old would not come cheap, as evidenced by the three-year, $30 million contract he was signed to when he arrived.
Now, three months into the 2020 campaign, the Cards have collected very little return on the cash they spent. On Saturday, Phillips was placed on the club’s injured-reserve list for the second time this year. The former second-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins has a bum hamstring that will now relegate him to the Arizona sideline until 2021 rolls around.
To say that Phillips has been a disappointment this fall would be putting it mildly. The Cardinals were counting on the former University of Oklahoma product to provide a pass rush from the interior of their defensive line. After all, Phillips had registered 9.5 quarterback sacks for Buffalo in 2019, and Cards coordinator Vance Joseph was hoping for more of the same from the veteran.
Well, perhaps next season will be a better one for the well-paid Phillips. In the nine starts he made in ’20, the Kansas native totaled just two sacks and a measly 11 tackles for the Arizona defensive unit. That’s hardly adequate payback for the $10 million he’ll be paid by the organization this year.
There was a tremendous amount of excitement among the “Red Sea” this past spring, when the Cardinals announced that Phillips would be joining Joseph’s group. There’s still two campaigns left on the defender’s deal, plenty of time for the free agent pickup to produce like he has in the past. For now, all Cards fans can do is hope that Phillips will prove that the franchise’s investment in him wasn’t wasted money.