The one-year veteran contract has been a Steve Keim special. But according to him, it has also affected the team negatively in one way. After selecting Brandon Williams with their third round pick, general manager Steve Keim said, "I think we've kind of put some of our special teams and out coverage units on the backburner, which affected us."
It is natural. A lot of established veterans do not play special teams. Bringing in veterans also means they are what they are. They frequently "didn't have upside or contributions on special teams," as Keim explained.
"I think that's one of the things that we put an emphasis on was to get more athletic, to get faster and to be better on our cover teams," he said.
Bruce Arians also explained why the draft pick need to be able to contribute on special teams. "We've got a pretty good roster," he explained. Keim has already mentioned how it will be difficult for all the draft picks to even make the roster because they have a lot of talent already. Being an outstanding special teams player helps.
"If you're coming in right now, yo'd better be a special teams ace to get a leg up in your position room, and that's one thing we will continue to look at the rest of these couple of days," Arians told reporters.
So a possible theme for the next four picks and their undrafted rookie signings? Athleticism and special teams play. That is what it appears to be.