Arizona Cardinals Free Agency: Should Rashad Johnson Be Re-Signed?

To end the work week, we took a look at the stats of Sean Considine and his contributions on special teams to determine whether or not he should be brought back to the Arizona Cardinals. 58% of you said yes, but as I said in the article, he will likely have to battle for a roster spot with long time Cardinal, Hamza Abdullah.

Now, let's look at the third safety of the group, but one who actually saw a significant amount of time on the field. Rashad Johnson is set to become an unrestricted free agent after being drafted in the third round of the 2009 NFL draft. Based on what we saw of him on the field, should the Cardinals keep him around? Let's take a look at some of the stats after the jump.

Johnson became a key player on the team after Kerry Rhodes went out with a broken foot injury. During the time Johnson was starting at the free safety position, he definitely had his ups and downs.

He played a total of 499 snaps, in which he logged 37 tackles as a member of the secondary. Pro Football Focus gave him an above average grade in pass coverage, but as we saw a couple of times during the season, he did get burnt by the deep ball after failing to be in the correct position. One example of this was Johnson's first week starting against the Steelers where Ben Roethlisberger was able to complete a 95 yard TD pass after seeing Mike Wallace in single coverage with no safety help over the top.

Luckily for Johnson, he has the ability to play at either safety position. He plays well in pass coverage, but is not nearly as efficient down in the box against the run as Rhodes or Adrian Wilson. He is still young and has loads of potential to be a dynamic player, but up to this point, we have only seen flashes.

Johnson will be an unrestricted free agent and the Arizona Cardinals may let him test the free agent market. Teams are always in need of a cover safety and they may be willing to throw some money at a guy like Johnson who has some experience in the league, but is still a young player.

If the price is right, I think the Cardinals should re-sign Johnson. The safety position in the 2012 draft class is not the strongest it has ever been, so they may want to wait on drafting one. Johnson will be one of the more coveted free agent safeties, but he would probably like to return if at all possible.

What do you think? Should the Cards retain Rashad Johnson? Sound off in the comments below and make sure to vote in the poll.

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