Arizona Cardinals re-sign Markus Golden for two years

The edge position seems to be set for the Arizona Cardinals after the team agreed to a two-year contract with veteran Markus Golden.

From the team:

The Arizona Cardinals Football Club today announced that the team has agreed to terms with linebacker Markus Golden on a two-year contract. In accordance with club policy, terms were not disclosed.

Golden (6-3, 260) is back with Arizona after playing in nine games (eight starts) with the Cardinals last season after being re-acquired in a trade with the New York Giants on October 23. Despite playing in only nine games with the Cardinals in 2020, he collected 25 tackles, 3.0 sacks, 15 quarterback hits, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Golden was one of an NFL-high 18 Cardinals to record at least 1.0 sack last year and one of a league-best 12 players with 2.0 or more. Just three NFL teams had more sacks in 2020 than Arizona’s 48.0, even though the Cards lost All-Pro defender Chandler Jones for the season in week 5.

Prior to signing with the Giants in 2019, the 30-year old Golden played four years (2015-18) with Arizona and appeared in 46 games (24 starts) after originally joining the team as a second-round selection (58th overall) in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Missouri. During his first tenure with the Cardinals, Golden had 19.0 sacks, 119 tackles (97 solo), six forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, including a career-high 12.5 sacks with Arizona in 2016. After joining the Giants as a free agent in 2019, Golden had 10.0 sacks and 72 tackles while starting all 16 games.