Arizona Cardinals hand Markus Golden a one-year contract extension

The Arizona Cardinals front office does the right thing by inking their top pass-rushing threat to a one-year contract extension. 

All throughout the summer, rumors were circulating that Arizona Cardinals edge-rusher Markus Golden was unhappy with his contract situation. A brand-new agreement that was reached between the outside linebacker and the team on Friday should put those ill feelings to rest.

Just two days before the season-opener, the Cards announced that they have inked the veteran to an extension that will keep Golden with the franchise through the 2023-24 campaign. The 31-year old was scheduled to collect a base salary of $2 million this coming fall, but Golden’s new deal could net him another $6.5 million over the next two years.

Golden had been sidelined for most of Arizona’s training camp due to a mysterious toe injury, leading some to speculate that the ailment may have been contrived. The former second-round draft pick was accused of “holding in”, a phrase used to describe an individual who is attending practice but not participating in drills.

Arizona Cardinals pass rush could rely heavily this season on Markus Golden. 

Back in March, the Cardinals sat idly by as sack-specialist Chandler Jones signed a free-agent contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. The front office’s only answer to the loss of the Pro Bowler was to acquire a pair of edge-rushers (Cameron Thomas, Myjai Sanders) during the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Arizona also retained Dennis Gardeck, a fifth-year pro who has spent most of his career as a special-teams ace. The 28-year old did flash pass-rushing skills back in 2020, however, when he racked up seven quarterback sacks in limited action with the Cards defense.

The 11 sacks recorded by Golden last season were the most among the Redbirds. That’s all well and good, but it will be interesting to see if the St. Louis native can repeat that level of production without Jones drawing a bunch of attention on the opposite edge.

Kudos to the Cardinals hierarchy for doing the right thing. Golden has always been one of the defense’s hardest workers, and the extension he received just hours before the first game was certainly well-deserved.