Grading the Arizona Cardinals new six signings in free agency
By Brandon Ray
Mack Wilson, LB: 3 years, $12.75 million
While it would have been a great signing to acquire someone like Josh Uche from the New England Patriots, the Cardinals were still able to get a linebacker in Mack Wilson who had a steller rookie season but then took a step back in production as time went on. Wilson has not missed a game in 2 seasons and set a career high in sacks last year with the Patriots with 3.5 sacks. Plugging Wilson into this defense will bring a little bit of pressure off of Kyzir White in the middle of the unit. Defensive players that come from New England tend to be reliable so giving Wilson this chance to prove what he has outside of the Patriots’ organization is a good risk for the Cardinals.
On the other hand, Wilson has been playing a little bit of a recruitment game to pending free agents and seems to be adjusting well to being part of the Cardinals.
Grade: B
DeeJay Dallas, RB: 3 years, $8.25 million
At the end of the day, this seems more like a special team addition as that is where Dallas has had most of his success. However, adding another running back to the room is good depth behind James Conner. On a cheap deal, this is a good move by Ossenfort but it all depends on the impact that Dallas brings. To this point, it has not been much.
Grade: C
Jonah Williams, OL: 2 years, $30 million ($19 million guarenteed)
The Cardinals made their first bigger splash in free agency by signing former Bengals offensive lineman Jonah Williams to a two-year deal to plug into the offensive line. Right before this breaking news, the Cardinals released long-time offensive tackle D.J. Humphries. With this move, we will now see whether or not Williams will go back to playing left tackle or will stick at right tackle where he was last season with the Bengals.
This move solidifies the offensive line to protect Kyler Murray which takes away an area of need for the Cardinals heading into the NFL draft. On a two-year deal upfront to protect the franchise, this is the Cardinals' best signing up to this point.