Arizona Cardinals: Tough decisions ahead for Steve Keim

Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim is going to have to do a lot of work this offseason, whenever that starts for his team.

On the cusp of the 2020 playoffs, Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim will have to make multiple decisions on whether to cut a long-time Cardinal, keep one of his first round draft picks, and figure out what to do with the most successful running back since David Johnson. With a measly cap space of 1.9 million, the second least in the league, Cardinals fans have to be prepared for some big moves.

Patrick Peterson

What was once a top-5 draft pick and a young corner who had tied the team record for punt return touchdowns in a season, Peterson’s play has surely declined here in the past few years. When the news hit of a 6-game suspension in 2019, many fans made their decisions to burn bridge of support- and this year’s play hasn’t helped him either.

Peterson has a 12 million dollar salary this season alone, and with him turning 31 next year, it’s time to give the spot to Byron Murphy and maybe a corner from the draft. I don’t see Peterson returning unless it’s on a significantly cheaper deal. Since 2004 (which is when I became a fan), I haven’t seen a Cardinal who started his career so well but ended it so disliked and frustrated with.

Peterson will enter free agency and look to go to a  guaranteed contender.

Haason Reddick pick has finally paid off

I’ll be the first to admit that I absolutely hated this pick in 2017. I had wanted the Cardinals to draft now-Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.

For years, I was very critical of Reddick, but I didn’t quite give him a chance until late in 2019 when he started to gain some momentum by making some big plays. I made the decision to back off a bit and see what he could carry into this season.

Then of course his record setting day in where he racked up 5 sacks against the New York Giants only makes the negotiation process juicer. Reddick is only making 2 million in base salary this season, finishing his 4 year, 14 million dollar contract he signed as rookie. I could see Keim signing him to a 5 year, $25 million dollar deal. He has proved his worth and I’d love to see him be a career Cardinal.

Kenyan Drake

Drake signed a transition tag in the offseason worth about $8 million. It’s set to become a potential bridge to a long-term contract with the Cardinals. Drake said in a tweet back in July that a long-term deal was going to get done and fans shouldn’t worry about it.

My only concern is that it’s already at $8 million, and any lengthy extension is going to sign him with a bigger cap hit than this year alone. Additionally, the limited amount of space that the Cardinals have will mean that maybe a fan favorite, like Dennis Gardeck doesn’t get re-signed.

I don’t see them going after a free agent running back or someone in the draft. We haven’t seen a lick of Eno Benjamin anyways, so maybe there will be more snaps for him next year. This contract will either grow or shrink based on the fact that if the Cardinals get into the playoffs or not.

If you were Keim, what would be the decisions you would make? Who would you sign or let go? Comment below and if there’s enough answers I will do an article based off of your thoughts!