Arizona Cardinals get one of the best values in free agency in James Conner according to Football Outsiders

For the 2021 NFL offseason the Arizona Cardinals have made a number of significant acquisitions to their roster in hopes of getting over the proverbial hump and into the NFL playoffs.

The interesting aspect of their offseason moves is that of what value are they getting. Of course we will not know the true value until the players are on the field, but based on the past performances of the free agents they signed, what type of value did they get?

Football Outsiders did some math to determine just that and while we will first look at the Cardinals getting great value in James Conner, they did the opposite in some of their other signings.

Let’s start with the good and Conner.

James Conner (RB)

• Age: 26 years old
• Contract: 1 year, $1.75 million ($1.75 million per year), $1.75 million guaranteed
• PAYME: $5,871,000
• Value: + $4,121,000

The Cardinals are getting Conner at a deep discount according to Football Outsiders metrics, although they admit that Conner’s value is heavily influenced by his standout Pro Bowl season. He still was worth far more than the paltry salary the Cardinals were able to give him.

That leads to the question, will Conner out perform that salary and will he have the chance in Arizona?

What are your thoughts?

Again, we will discuss the negative values the Cardinals signed in a bit, so let’s focus on Conner’s signing first.