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One has to go back to 2015 to find a significant 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 2ndcontract free agents---players who have been with one team and are now heading into their 5th or 6th 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.
- If you had to pick between McCarron and Bridgewater---who would he be?
- If you could sign one of the top rated players at his position---who would he be?
- If you could sign one of the 2nd rated players at his position---who would he be?
- If you could pick 5 players from the bottom half of each position list who would they be?
- Who is your sleeper 2nd contract UFA (a player not listed here)?
My Choices:
- QB A.J. McCarron (Concerns about Bridgewater’s durability).
- LB Nigel Bradham.
- T Chris Hubbard.
- 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).