Arizona Cardinals Free Agency: Should D'Anthony Batiste Be Retained?

Moving on in our free agency series, we will take a look at another unrestricted player. The majority of you voted that Early Doucet should be brought back to the Arizona Cardinals, but only for the right price. Depending on the offers he may or may not receive from other teams, I feel that we will see Doucet back in a Cardinals uniform next season.

Now let's take a look at a player that many of you may never have even heard of. Offensive tackle D'Anthony Batiste will become an unrestricted free agent in March. So I ask you: should the Cardinals keep him or let him walk?

Batiste has been a member of the Arizona Cardinals since 2010, primarily being used as a stopgap when someone on the line goes down or as an extra offensive tackle on run plays. In 2011, Batiste appeared in four games. He filled in for a good portion of the game in week 5 against the Vikings when starter Daryn Colledge went down.

In his four games, Batiste played on 44 snaps, with 31 of them being passing plays, according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed one quarterback hit, but no sacks and he was penalized just one time.

Batiste has the type of size that Russ Grimm covets in his offensive tackles. He is 6'4" and 314 pounds, making it somewhat difficult to move a man of his stature around.

One thing that could prevent his coming back is the elevation of D.J. Young from the practice squad. The Cardinals chose to make him apart of the 53 man roster so that other teams were unable to sign him. Obviously, they see a lot of potential in Young, so he might become the extra offensive tackle behind Jeremy Bridges. Batiste could find himself out of the loop because of that.

In my opinion, I think they still re-sign Batiste. D.J. Young is still inexperienced and will need time to get the scheme down pat. Many believe that the Cardinals will either draft or sign a free agent offensive tackle (or two) to replace Levi Brown and Brandon Keith. Batiste could still be a solid and cheap backup behind whoever is starting on the Cardinals' offensive line next season.

What do you think, Cardinals fans? Should the team re-sign D'Anthony Batiste? Leave your comments below and vote in the poll.

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