As the draft came to a close this weekend, Arizona Cardinals' general manager Monti Ossenfort and company still had their eyes on some potential depth players to add to their squad.
They first signed Colorado wide receiver Xavier Weaver for a deal worth $255,000. Weaver is going to be a great addition to an offense that has invested in their receiving corps this offseason. The Orlando native demonstrated great feel through his routes in his time with the Buffaloes and showed an ability to adjust and find open space whenever Shedeur Sanders would scramble.
If Weaver finds himself on the field, this will translate perfectly to Kyler Murray’s style of play and Weaver could find himself contributing to the offense when most opposing defenses will be focused on Marvin Harrison Jr., and rightly so.
The Cardinals also added some depth to their special teams unit when they signed N.C. State’s long snapper Joe Shimko. The 6’0” 230 lbs long snapper could prove to be a steal for Arizona even though Shimko went undrafted this year. In his 2023 campaign, Shimko was awarded the Patrick Mannelly Award, which is annually given to the best long snapper in the nation.
In over 600 snaps in his 61 game collegiate career, the New Jersey native did not record a single bad snap for the Wolfpack. Shimko is also a nice addition to the community in the desert as he raised over $400,000 for charity over his last two summers in Raleigh.
Ossenfort was not done there, and looked to build upon his defensive line that he has put a lot of focus into this offseason when he signed Myles Murphy out of North Carolina. Murphy is an interesting pickup because he may not be prevalent on the stat sheet, but his contributions in the middle of the Cardinals defensive line could clog up run gaps that Arizona has been needing for some time.
Coming in at 6’5” and 310 lbs, Murphy is a massive addition that could provide good depth on the line and is going to be extremely stout supporting the Cardinals run defense. Even though he may not be a true pass rusher, his strength and discipline allows him to eat up blocks.
While it may be easy to overlook undrafted free agents, Monti Ossenfort continues to build on a good offseason and a solid draft weekend performance. There were clear holes in the Cardinals’ game last year and Ossenfort has addressed nearly all of them this offseason. Not only has he addressed them, but he is building depth which is all too important in today’s NFL.