Best remaining fits for the Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are a week from bringing a close to their offseason program. OTA’s will wrap up this week, and the team will hold their Minicamp next week. That will bring an end to football related activities until the end of July, when the Cardinals will report to Training Camp.

With Minicamp, it could give the Cardinals an opportunity to see about guys and positions they have their doubts about. Those spots could be addressed with more undrafted players. But what may be more likely is that they address with someone who is sitting at home right now.

To narrow down the search we need to look at what positions the Cardinals could still have some doubts with.

For starters, I think one of the more glaring positional needs is Tight End. Currently the Cardinals have three players who have any sort of NFL experience. Ricky Seals-Jones is a promising prospect after his performance last season, Gabe Holmes has only seen time in two NFL games, and Jermaine Gresham is not expected to be available to start the season.

This leaves a bit of a concern at the position. Currently however, there are a number of names that could be immediate fixes.

For starters Julius Thomas remains a Free Agent. Thomas spent time with McCoy during McCoy’s first stint in Denver. Thomas has been productive in his NFL career, but has been unable to replicate the success he had under Manning and McCoy. At 29 he still has something to offer.

Antonio Gates is another McCoy related name. Gates is an unlikely addition, considering his ties with the Chargers and the fact that they are in need of another Tight End. The 36 year old tight end has seen his production drop in recent years. Could the desert breathe some life into the latter part of his Hall of Fame career?

A former sixth round selection for the Raiders back in 2013 also curiously sits at home. Mychal Rivera made some solid contributions to begin his career, but was ultimately phased out of the lineup by 2016. At 6’3, 242 pounds, physical traits fit the position.

Lastly would be Coby Fleener. The former Stanford Tight End has been underwhelming despite his upside. He’s often injured, which is a common sight for Cardinal fans, but perhaps a low risk contract and being a part of a tight end rotation could be beneficial?

One of the biggest concerns for the defense is their lack of depth at Safety. Only Antoine Bethea and Budda Baker have seen anytime on Defense in a NFL game. The Cardinals have met with one of the more notable names in Tre Boston twice already. It could just be that they want to see what they have in 11 on 11 football before signing him, or there’s an issue with contract terms. But both sides seem to have an interest in on another, so it isn’t a signing to rule out.

Tyvon Branch remains a free agent. After a good start to his 2017 season, Branch looked poised to earn himself a good contract to wrap up his NFL career. At 31 he isn’t the youngest guy on our list, but he is still able to play. He was PFF #5 safety at the time of his ACL tear in Week 10.

The next two names are at home because of their Anthem protests, so the possibility of seeing them on the team are slim. Kenny Vaccaro and Eric Reid are two talented, young, safeties. Both players won’t find a team because of their protests, or at least, the possibility is slim.

Is there another position you are concerned about? Any names you are still interested in? Discuss below.

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