FanPost

Arizona Cardinals Potential Free Agent Target: John Jerry

Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals were considered Super Bowl contenders before the past season. All of that changed when offensive line injuries came about. The loss of veteran starters Jared Veldheer, Evan Mathis, and backup Ulrick John hurt the Cardinals. Carson Palmer was running for his life for the most part of the season and Keim/Arians have to do everything they can to insure that won't happen again.

With Evan Mathis, Earl Watford, and Taylor Boggs set to be free agents, the Arizona Cardinals have some uncertainty at the right guard. John Wetzel is assumed to replace Watford as the swiss army knife of the offensive line as he played both guard and tackle this past season. Cole Toner was their 2016 fifth round pick that was graded one of the top rookie guards of the 2016 preseason but he still has to improve his upper body strength. There are speculations that 2016 fourth round pick Evan Boehm, drafted to be their future center, will compete for the vacant right guard position due to the reps he had there near the end of last season. Even so, AQ Shipley is not guaranteed to come back and the Cardinals will need more competition than just the second year veteran. This is where free agent right guard John Jerry comes in.

  • 77.0 Pro Football Focus grade

John Jerry, impending free agent from the New York Giants, will be 31 years old in June. He is an eight year veteran who does not have much of an injury history. He has started 85 of 105 games in his career and has started every game this past season for the Giants. He is known for his good pass blocking skills as he received an 84.1 pass blocking grade by Pro Football Focus. His 61.9 run blocking grade may be concerning but he is an upgrade at right guard compared to any of the players that played that position this past season for the Cardinals. Carson Palmer was sacked 40 times last season and David Johnson was still able to rush over 1200 yards behind a banged up offensive line. When Palmer has the time, he can make almost any throw. John Jerry can give him that time. He will be of great value in both pass/run blocking and should be available at $5M or less per season. He isn't a long term answer at the right guard position but a two or three year deal seems reasonable.

Larry Warford, Kevin Zeitler, and TJ Lang might be out of their price range. Chance Warmack is injury prone and has not lived up to expectations just like Cardinals' former first round pick Jonathan Cooper. Chris Chester is a good run blocker but poor in pass protection. Earl Watford will likely test free agency.

<em>This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.</em>