2nd Contract Free Agents for the Arizona Cardinals (You Be the GM)

One has to go back to 2015 to find a significant 2^nd contract free agent starter the Cardinals signed. Three years ago the Cardinals made a bit of splash when they signed LG Mike Iupati and DT Corey Peters.

The past two years the Cardinals have signed older free agents who have bounced around a little---which can be fine in the short-term---but older free agents tend to wear down.

Ideally, what team would like to do in free agency is add a few choice 2^nd contract free agents who are heading into their prime---players who can be solid starters for 3-4 years.

The fact that Steve Keim has failed to add any 2^nd contract free agents the past two years is perhaps one of the reasons why the Cardinals find themselves having to fill a number of holes in the roster this year.

Hopefully, this year, Keim’s approach to free agency will change. The Cardinals need to make a splash and they need to create stability at QB, WR, TE, OL, LB , CB and STs.

Thus, in taking a good, careful search of this year’s 2^ndcontract free agents---players who have been with one team and are now heading into their 5^th or 6^th seasons and could thrive in their primes on a new team, here are some of the top candidates at each position:

QB:

• J. McCarron (27)
• Teddy Bridgewater (25)

RB:

• Carlos Hyde (27)
• Dion Lewis (27)
• Jerick McKinnon (25)
• Isaiah Crowell (25)

FB:

• Zach Line (27)
• Derrick Coleman (27)

TE:

• Tyler Eifert (27)
• Austin Seferian-Jenkins (25)
• Trey Burton (26)
• Levine Tollolo (26)
• Richard Rodgers (26)

WR:

• Allen Robinson (24)
• Sammy Watkins (24)
• Marquis Lee (26)
• Paul Richardson (25)
• Jordan Mathews (25)
• Albert Wilson (25)
• Donte Moncrief (24)
• Tyler Gabriel (27)
• Cody Latimer (25)
• Jeff Janis (26)
• Ryan Grant (27)

T:

• Justin Pugh (27)
• Chris Hubbard (26)
• LaAdrian Waddle (26)
• Cameron Fleming (25)
• Greg Robinson (25)

G/C:

• Andrew Norwell (26)
• Weston Richburg (26)
• Josh Kline (28)
• Jack Mewhort (26)
• Ryan Jenson (26)
• Spencer Long (27)
• Senio Kelemete (27)
• Luke Joeckel (26)
• Zach Fulton (26)

Edge:

• Trent Murphy (27)
• Aaron Lynch (25)
• Kony Ealy (26)
• Kareem Martin (26)
• Devon Kennard (26)

DL:

• Dontari Poe (27)
• Sheldon Richardson (27)
• Jay Bromley (25)
• Beau Allen (26)
• Justin Ellis (27)

ILB:

• Avery Williamson (26)
• Todd Davis (25)
• Anthony Hitchens (25)
• Jon Bostic (26)
• Christian Jones (27)
• Sean Spence (27)

OLB:

• Nigel Bradham (28)
• Tahir Whitehead (27)
• Paul Worrilow (27)
• Jelani Jenkins (26)
• Kemal Ishmael (26)
• Kevin Pierre-Louis (26)
• Marquis Flowers (26)

CB:

• Trumaine Johnson (28)
• Kyle Fuller (26)
• Aaron Colvin (26)
• Malcolm Butler (28)
• J. Gaines (26)
• Bashaud Breeland (26)
• Rashaan Melvin (28)

S:

• Kenny Vaccaro (27)
• Eric Reid (26)
• Tre’ Boston (25)
• Bradley McDougald (27)
• Terrence Brooks (26)

K:

• Dustin Hopkins (27)
• Chandler Catanzaro (27)
• Cairo Santos (26)
• Caleb Sturgis (28)

Playing the GM:

These players are listed in the order of Evan Silva’s (Rotoworld) rankings. So, let’s have a little fun with this.

1. If you had to pick between McCarron and Bridgewater---who would he be?
2. If you could sign one of the top rated players at his position---who would he be?
3. If you could sign one of the 2^nd rated players at his position---who would he be?
4. If you could pick 5 players from the bottom half of each position list who would they be?
5. Who is your sleeper 2nd contract UFA (a player not listed here)?

My Choices:

1. QB A.J. McCarron (Concerns about Bridgewater’s durability).
2. LB Nigel Bradham.
3. T Chris Hubbard.
4. WR Tyler Gabriel, G Spencer Long, C Zach Fulton, Edge Devon Kennard, CB Rashaan Melvin.

ILB Corey Nelson (Broncos---good tackler, excellent in pass coverage).