2019 Arizona Cardinals’ Free Agent Decisions

Here are my suggestions as to which of their own free agents (UFA, RFA and ERFA) the Cardinals should try very diligently to re-sign:

Unrestrictled Free Agents

Larry Fitzgerald WR 36—-YES—-CORE PLAYER—-as long as Fitz wants to play, make it happen. ($11M)

Mike Iupati G 32—-NO—--injuries and age. Cardinals need to upgrade the guard position.

Phil Dawson K 44—-NO—-retirement? Still hoping for Matt McCrane.

Deone Bucannon OLB 27—-NO——injuries and inconsistent tackling/pass coverage.

Tre Boston FS 27—-MAYBE—-signing UFA Landon Collins (NYG) would be a coup. Not sure if the Giants will f-tag Collins, but they might. My second choice would be LaMarcus Joyner (LAR), but he too may get the f-tag for a second straight year. I would invest heavily in this position. Tre’ Boston has upside, but needs to be realistic about his contract numbers—-$3-4M a year range with incentives.

Benson Mayowa DE 28—-YES—-he’s been reliable—-offer him $3M a year.

Markus Golden DE 28—-YES—-CORE PLAYER—-offer him $11M a year with incentives.

John Phillips TE 32—-NO

Bene Benwikere CB 27—-YES—-offer him $2.4M a year.

Gerald Hodges OLB 28—-NO

Derrick Coleman FB 28—-MAYBE—-let’s see how Byron Leftwich continues to use him.

Kendall Wright WR 29—-NO—-Cardinals need to invest in one of the top WR UFAs.

Oday Aboushi G 28—-YES—-keep him in the mix for next year

David Amerson CB 27—-MAYBE—-needs to impress coaches and teammates.

Rodney Gunter DT 27—-YES—-CORE PLAYER—-has emerged as an inside force. $4-5M a year.

Zach Moore DE 28—-YES—-keep him in the mix.

J.J. Nelson WR 27—-NO

Jeremy Vujnovich G 28 (RFA)—-NO

John Wetzel RT 28 (RFA)—-YES—-CORE PLAYER—-give him a solid tender, but try to sign him to a 3 year deal if the salary is agreeable to both sides.

Olsen Pierre DT 28 (ERFA)—-YES—-CORE PLAYER—-make him a good qualifying offer and as with John Wetzel, see if we can sign him to a mutually agreeable 3 year deal.

Jeremy Cash OLB 26 (RFA)—-YES

D.J. Foster WR 25 (RFA)—-YES

Daniel Munyer C 27 (ERFA)—-still under team control, keep him in the mix for the C2 spot

Joe Walker ILB 26 (ERFA)—-YES—-good STs player, would like to see how he can do on defense.

Ricky Seals-Jones TE 24 (ERFA)—-YES—-CORE PLAYER—-still very affordable/cap friendly

Colby Gossett G 24 (ERFA)—-YES—-see if he can make the 2019 roster

Zack Golditch G 24 (ERFA)—-YES—-see if he can make the 2019 roster

Top UFA Priorities:

1—-DE Markus Golden

2—-WR Larry Fitzgerald

3—-DT Rodney Gunter

4—-FS Tre’ Boston

5—-DE Benson Mayowa

Top RFA Priorities:

1—-T Josh Wetzel

2—-LB Jeremy Cash

Top ERFA Priorities:

1—-DT Olsen Pierre

2—-TE Ricky Seals-Jones

The Cardinals have not been good at re-signing their draft picks to second contracts. This year, the Cardinals need to step up and get Markus Golden and Rodney Gunter re-signed.