Five Arizona Cardinals That Could Be on the Bubble

The Arizona Cardinals have a roster full of talent.  Look at any website that does positional rankings and you see the Arizona Cardinals players or positional groups ranked highly, which means that they will have to let go of some good players.

Yesterday, we saw Josh Weinfuss give his 53 man roster projection, and while I do not agree with some of cuts he made, I do think there are some players that could be cut that may raise an eyebrow of fans.  Here are five players that may not be "shoe ins" to make the roster.

Matt Barkley-

Barkley has one thing on his side, he is relatively cheap at only $685k in salary this year.  He is a very intelligent quarterback with physical limitations, but his ability to understand the offense and get players into the right positions means he is not a liability when he steps on the field, even if it is just as guy to keep their head above water.

On the flip side, Arizona only controls him for one more year, and with Drew Stanton getting two years of guaranteed money, that means there is not a lot of room for Barkley to move upwards until both Stanton and Palmer are out of years.  Does that mean it will be Jacob Coker as the third string quarterback?  Maybe not, Steve Keim has a deft hand and understanding the demand for players on his team, and if he thinks he can get Coker to the practice squad and Barkley would not draw much in way of waiver claims or roster consideration late, Arizona could go with two quarterbacks only on the roster.

Troy Niklas-

One thing we know about Bruce Arians is... He does not like players that are hurt all the time.  Injuries are different, see Tyrann Mathieu, but someone with a lot of little nagging injuries tends to draw the ire of Coach Arians, see Sean Weatherspoon and Jonathan Cooper.

Niklas has been... average when on the field, but it is his inability to be on the field every week that could allow the Cardinals to move on.

Kareem Martin/Alex Okafor-

Two players, with numbers not on their side, Martin and Okafor could both be playing in their last year in Arizona.  Both could end up on the roster, both could be cut, and only one could go, but it will be fun to watch.  Okafor has battled injuries and inconsistencies, Martin has never been able to put together the athleticism on the field, so now they are both down on the depth chart.

Okafor seems like the better player, simply because he has actually performed in games, but being lost for the playoffs last year did not endear him to anyone and his cap hit is nearly $1.8 million next year, as opposed to Martin's $800k.

Frostee Rucker-

While Rucker may be the longest of shots to be cut, he has one thing going against him, he will be the third highest paid defensive lineman on the team, he is 32 and is a free agent in 2017.

His veteran presence and ability to play multiple positions may keep him on the roster, but the depth at the position may also make him expendable.

Any names you think could be in trouble?