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The Arizona Cardinals downfall from the NFC Championship Game to the first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft is not only a failure in the draft, but also a failure to acquire key free agents.
That’s why when ESPN came out with their top free agent signing for each team over the last four seasons, it is interesting to see who Josh Weinfuss decided to put as the top free agent:
Best free-agent signing: C A.Q. Shipley. He might fly under the radar, as most centers do, but Shipley has been the constant on the Cardinals’ offensive line since he signed with the team in March 2015, with the exception of missing the 2018 season due to an ACL injury. Other than that, Shipley has played in 56 games. When he’s healthy, he’s reliable and has been able to develop an intimate command of all three of the offenses the Cardinals have run during his tenure. He wasn’t a splash signing, but he has been a home run.
This is a bit of a surprise, but who would you put over Shipley?
Mike Iupati and Corey Peters from 2015?
2016?
Antoine Bethea and Karlos Dansby in 2017?
Justin Pugh in 2018?
Jordan Hicks in 2019?
It’s really probably Shipley or Peters, unless you believe that Iupati’s short stint as a starter was better than Shipley’s or Peters.
Who would you rank as the best?