The Arizona Cardinals, seemingly set on their roster in the defensive backfield, apparently are not sure they are set. According to a tweet from NFL reporter Jason LaCanfora, former Cincinnati Bengals safety Chris Crocker is set to visit the Cardinals on Wednesday.
Crocker has played in the league for nine seasons and played in all 16 games last season, logging 61 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He did not intercept any passes.
According to his Scouts, Inc scouting report:
Crocker is a versatile player who has played corner, safety and nickel back. He has good overall instincts and awareness in a confined area. With deeper responsibilities, he has average burst and acceleration in space. He has good foot quickness in his backpedal but only adequate burst to flip his hips and drive. He takes good closing angles to the ball against both the run and pass. He's a good overall tackler who can break down in space or deliver a physical hit.
Crocker played under Cards defensive back coach Louie Cioffi.
The question is why they would bring him in. Yes, he is versatile, which we are beginning to see a lot of suits look anymore. However, they look pretty set at safety. They have starters Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes, Rashad Johnson and James Sanders under contract.
The Cards kept five safeties most of last season, but that was with Rhodes sidelined with a foot injury. But two of those safeties played almost exclusively on special teams.
Kent Somers suspects that the team is just doing its homework. It must be all that could be going on. The only other possibility is if the team is looking to save a little money and cut Rhodes or Wilson. That seems unlikely, but it could be possible, considering the cap space Arizona has.
The cap space makes it seem even more absurd, being that the team has so little available salary space under the cap (only a few thousand dollars).
What do you think, guys and gals? What exactly are we to make of that situation?