3 former Arizona Cardinals players we’re glad are gone, 2 we wish stayed

3. Robbie Chosen, WR

After 10 games with the Cardinals in a year where he played for two separate teams, Chosen signed a contract with the Dolphins, and proceeded to have one of the worst seasons of his career. In his defense, he only played in nine games.

He bounced around their practice squad for a bit, and ended up only having four receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. At 30 years old, it's not like the Cardinals are missing out on much at this point.

2 former Arizona Cardinals players we wish stayed

1. WR DeAndre Hopkins

It obviously didn't end well, which is a shame because Hopkins can still play, even at 31. In his first year with the Titans, the former Cardinals great put up 1057 yards – the first time he's had over 1000 yards since 2020 – with seven touchdowns on 75 receptions.

Now he gets to team up with Calvin Ridley and create one of the better passing offenses in football, while the Cardinals still look for a bonafide WR1 to pair with Kyler Murray before Murray decides that Arizona isn't the long-term fit.

2. LB Markus Golden

In theory, moving on from the 31-year-old Golden after 2021 made sense: he was getting up there in age, and the production just wasn't there anymore – at least for his standards. And while he wasn't a starter in Pittsburgh, the analytics say he had one of the best seasons of his career: he had the highest overall defensive PFF grade of his career (86.5) and was one of the best pass-rushing linebackers in the league.

He didn't play a ton of snaps, but the Cardinals could have used Golden in the same role that Pittsburgh put him in.