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I thought these rankings might be of interest to many of you, especially in light of the fact that the Cardinals are relying a little more heavily these days on analytics.
PFF ranked their top 100 free agents.
2 Cardinals made the top 100:
53. T D.J. Humphries—-2019 grade: 64.5 (#47 T) projected salary (per overthecap.com): 4/$54M/$13.5M per/$26M g
57 WR Larry Fitzgerald—-70.3 (#52 WR)—-1/$11M+/$11M g
The unranked Cardinals’ UFAs:
QB Brett Hundley—-80.4
RB Kenyan Drake—-71.2 (#25 RB)
WR Pharoh Cooper—-70.3
DT Zach Kerr—-69.5 (#42 DI)
DT Rodney Gunter—-64.5 (#66 DI)
TE Charles Clay—64.5 (#29 TE)
WR Damiere Byrd—-64.4 (#78 WR)
OLB Cassius Marsh—-63.1 (#69 EDGE)
C A.Q. Shipley—-57.5 (#30 C)
S Chris Banjo—-57.4
DT Jonathan Bullard—-56.2 (#93 DI)
OLB Brooks Reed—-53.2
LB Joe Walker—-47.4 (#74 LB)
UFAs at Need Positions:
Centers:
NR Connor McGovern (DEN)—-26—-71.9 (#11 C)
NR Ted Karras (NE)—-66.5 (#20 C)
Tackles:
17 Anthony Castonzo (IND)—-31—-81.3 (# 7 T)—-3/$39M/$13M ave./$17M g
21 Jack Conklin (TEN)—-25—-80.6 (#9 T)—-5/$70M/$14M ave./$34M g
65 Brian Bulaga (GB)—-30—-77.1 (# 15 T)
Wide Receivers:
6 Amari Cooper (DAL)—-25—-84.1 (#8 WR)—-5/$100M/$20M ave./$68M g
11 A.J. Green (CIN)—-31—-3/$50M/$16.5M ave./$18M g
18 Robby Anderson (NYJ)—-26—-68.6 (#62 WR)—-4/$52.5M/$13.3M ave./$28M g
39 Breshad Perriman (TB)—-26—-72.6 (#42 WR)—-1/$7M/$7M g
34 Defensive Ends and Tackles:
7 Chris Jones (KC)—-25—-83.3 (#7 DI)—-4/$72M/$18M ave./$52M g
32 D.J. Reader (HOU)—-25—-85.5 (#6 DI)—-4/$54M/$13.5 ave./$28.5M g
33 Javon Hargrave (PIT)—-26—-83.4 (#8 DI)—-4/$48M/$12M ave./$28M g
34 Leonard Williams (NYG)—-25—-70.6 (#26 DI)—-5/$75M/$15M ave./$43M g
43 Mike Pierce (BAL)—-27—-69.1 (#45 DI)—-3/$15M/$5M ave./$6.5M g
50 Shelby Harris (DEN)—-28—-76.8 (#17 DI)—-3/$16.5M/$5.5M ave./$7M g
Edge Rushers:
13 Jadaveon Clowney (SEA)—-26—-$21M per
25 Shaq Barrett (TB)—-27—-$16.5M per
26 Yannick Ngakoue (JAX)—-24—-$19.5M per
41 Kyle Van Noy (NE)—-29—-$10.5M per
Inside Linebackers:
16 Cory Littleton (LAR)—-26—-78.9 (#7 LB)
42 Joe Shobert (CLE)—-28—-59.1 (#48 LB)
51 Jamie Collins (CLE)—-73.0 (#14 LB)
59 Blake Martinez (GB)—-26—-57.7 (#53 LB)
80 Nick Kwiatoski (CHI)—-26—-72.6 (#16 LB)
85 Josh Bynes (BAL)—-30—-79.3 (#6 LB)
Cornerbacks:
9 Byron Jones (DAL)—-27—-76.1 (#14 CB)—-5/$80/$16M ave./$50.5M g
10 Chris Harris (DEN)—-30—-69.9 (#34 CB)—-2/$26M/$13M ave./$13M g
35 Troy Hill (LAR)—-28—-76.4 (#12 CB)
44 Logan Ryan (TEN)—-28—-63.5 (#64 CB)—-3/$31.5M/$10.5M ave,/$12.5M g
46 Trae Waynes (MIN)—-27—-67.0 (#47 CB)
48 Brian Poole (NYJ)—-27—-79.0 (#9 CB)—-3/$22.5M/$7.5M ave./$12.5M g
To me the best potential UFA fits for the Cardinals (from an analytics and salary standpoint) are C Connor McGovern, WR Breshad Perriman, DT Javon Hargrave, 34DE Shelby Harris, ILB Nick Kwiatoski and CB Brian Poole.
As I have stated previously, I like the idea of signing UFA LT Le’Raven Clark, 26, Colts, to a one year $3M prove it deal. I think Sean Kugler could do wonders with Clark, who was an All-American LT in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense at Texas Tech. and had to sit 4 years behind Anthony Castonzo. If Clark works out, then we re-sign him to be our LT for the next 4 years. if not, the 2021 NFL Draft is loaded with LT talent. I am not keen on the LT talent in this year’s draft. Lots of RT talent, but the only top level LT is Andrew Thomas and every time I watched him this year, he struggled some with speed rushers. Although he did dominate in the running game.
Another UFA who caught my eye big-time in the playoffs is ILB Kamalei Correa (Titans), 26, 67.8 grade, 90.2 in pass coverage. He had superb games versus the Patriots, Ravens and Chiefs.
I think we could sign C McGovern ($5M per), LT Clark ($3M), DT Hargrave ($12M), 34DE Harris, ($5.5M), ILB Correa ($5M) and CB Poole ($7.5M) for $39M and then be free to pick BPA at #8, especially if we want to take WR CeeDee Lamb or OLB K’Lavon Chaisson or RT/G Tristan Wirfs. I would add S Isaiah Simmons to the list be I think he’s a top 6 pick. That would give us ample cap room to re-sign QB Brett Hundley and K Zane Gonzalez and the 2020 Draft class and still have about $7M to spare.
If you have any questions about UFAs not mentioned here, I would be happy to try to answer them.
I am very curious to know, which UFAs listed here jump out at you?