With a sketchy situation at cornerback and defensive line, the Arizona Cardinals may add a free agent or two during the season.
With a growing list of injuries, with some potentially serious, is it high time for the Arizona Cardinals to start considering free agency? Earlier in the week, I wrote about how the recent rash of injuries shouldn’t hurt the team considering the amount of depth they have at receiver and edge.
But with that list growing over the past 72 hours, the Cardinals may need to look to the current free agent pool if they wish to contend early. Not that they need to push the panic button yet, but it is something to consider if we get more bad news following the Week 1 tilt against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Arizona Cardinals could easily add free agents to improve key positions during the 2022 season.
Currently, the Cardinals are eighth in the NFL in cap space, meaning they can easily pick up a free agent or two if the roster remains banged up. As of September 9th, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. remains a free agent. But following an ACL injury, it is highly unlikely the Cardinals take a chance here. However, it wouldn’t be too surprising if they did look to see which receivers were out there.
Ndamukong Suh, however, could be on the Cardinals radar. If J.J. Watt misses extended playing time, the Cardinals could easily bump Zach Allen to Watt’s position at end while Suh takes over at defensive tackle.
An experienced player who even has a Super Bowl ring to his name, Suh would make an incredible puzzle piece for an aching Cardinals team. But with a few NFL teams reportedly talking with his representatives, Suh may be off the market sooner than later.
Kevin King is another name to look for. With Trayvon Mullen still out on Friday and Antonio Hamilton out for at least four weeks, King could also be on the Cardinals radar. In 2019, he was regarded as one of the league’s top corners, recording 15 pass deflections and five interceptions.
And although his 71.4% completion percentage and 108.9 passer rating against in 2021 was not pretty, King should be fine lining up opposite of Byron Murphy if the Cardinals were to bring in one more corner. At least once he’s acclimated to the system.
This time last week, I wouldn’t have believed the Cardinals to potentially embark on a free agent hunt. Just 168 hours later, it might be time to start considering free agency as the injuries pile up. In an ideal scenario, none of the injuries to key contributors are serious. But if players like Watt, Mullen, and Moore must miss extended time, there are viable fallback plans.
Article Source: Which best remaining free agents make sense for Cardinals? by Alex Sutton
(Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference)