Pro Football Focus likes Arizona Cardinals move for Marcus Gilbert

The Arizona Cardinals have made a number of moves in the 2019 offseason to try and avoid a repeat of their 2018 season.

They have hired a new coaching staff, have reinvented their offensive line, changed the defensive scheme and made a play on a number of free agents at critical positions.

Maybe the highlight of the offseason though, is the trade for Marcus Gilbert.

Gilbert has consistently been one of the best pass blocking right tackles in the NFL, something the Arizona Cardinals desperately need.

In their review of every NFL teams offseason moves, Pro Football Focus thought the trade of a lone sixth round pick for Gilbert stood out the most:

After a season where the team’s offensive line allowed the second-most pressures (219) in the league, the team went a long way in upgrading several positions on the offensive line, most notably by signing tackle Marcus Gilbert, who has recorded pass-blocking grades of 70.0 or more in seven of his eight professional seasons.

Gilbert’s acquisition is not a long term answer to a problem that has been an every offseason question mark... Yet, that is okay.

The Cardinals didn’t have a lot of money to work with this offseason, much because of their own doing, but did have an astronomical amount of holes to fill.

So now, the Cardinals sent a low pick in the 2019 NFL Draft for a guaranteed starter in 2019. Something they should have been doing with more consistency over the years.

It is one of the best moves of the offseason, even if it does not work out for more than a season.