Tell us what you love about this class and what you don’t love about it
Per ESPN’s Ben Solak, the Arizona Cardinals had the 13th best free agency class/most improved roster in the NFL this year.
Here is Ben Solak’s assessment:
13. Arizona Cardinals
Key acquisitions and returning players: Edge
Josh Sweat, C
Evan Brown, DT
Dalvin Tomlinson, LB
Baron Browning
I loved: The Sweat signing. He is just a winning player through and through. Sweat is a high-effort run defender with impactful play at the point of attack — a rarer and rarer trait as edge rushers have become increasingly lighter and smaller over the years. He’s a high-ceiling pass rusher who can win as the primary sack artist or as the pocket-pushing complement on the opposite side of a blitz or stunt.
Sweat’s familiarity with coach (and former Eagles DC) Jonathon Gannon, for whom he had his career-best 11 sacks in 2022, should help smooth the on-boarding process. He might not be a yearly 12-plus-sack player, but it’s hard to imagine this contract utterly failing given his fit and familiarity.
I didn’t love: The exodus at defensive tackle. As
Roy Lopez,
Khyiris Tonga and
Naquan Jones all signed elsewhere, the Cardinals lost 467, 261 and 229 snaps from last season, respectively.
Dante Stills and
Darius Robinson are the remaining incumbent tackles, and the signing of Tomlinson was smart. But their depth along the defensive line will now be tested, as both
Bilal Nichols and
Justin Jones are returning from injury. There’s a lot of newness at that position, which isn’t bad news — the group might improve as a whole! — but it will be a big question mark to track entering the 2025 season.
Josh Weinfuss of ESPN offered these assessments of the Cardinals’ free agents (with my reactions in italics):
Arizona and Fehoko agreed to a one-year deal.
What it means: Whether Fehoko can crack the receiving rotation will be determined throughout the offseason, but he could end up being a key addition should injuries hit. Fehoko has 10 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown in 24 career games, of which he started two. His best season came last year, when he played in eight games for the
Los Angeles Chargers and had six catches for 106 yards.
What’s the risk: Another signing with little risk despite injuries. He’s learned how to be a role player when called upon, and that will continue in Arizona.
Mitch: there’s a chance that Simi Fehoko will make the 53 as a tall, speedy option at slot WR.
Arizona and Tomlinson agreed to a two-year deal.
What it means: Tomlinson is a force in the run game. Two years ago, he had the second-best run stop run win rate and last year, he helped the
Cleveland Browns to the best run stop win rate in the NFL. He’ll slide right into the starting lineup and anchor the interior of Arizona’s defensive line. He also gives the Cardinals a rotation of defensive linemen who will be able to sub in and out, giving each other breaks and spelling each other enough to keep legs fresh.
What’s the risk: Tomlinson is 31 years old and even though he’s missed seven games since 2017 — and has started every game he’s played — the potential for his body starting to break down at this age increases as he gets older.
Mitch: The problem was in 2024, Dalvin Tomlinson was not the force in the running game that he was two years ago. His missed tackles were an issue for concern. However, what stood out was his improvement as an interior pass rusher. It’s difficult to imagine that as his age he would still want to play the role of a traditional nose tackle. That’s why, I am in full agreement with Ben Solak about the continued need on the defensive interior, particularly at nose tackle.
Arizona and Walker agreed to a one-year deal.
What it means: Walker will likely be a role player for the Cardinals on defense, supporting Arizona’s run defense. But he’ll be able to add depth when needed, having started one-third of the games throughout his career. He could also add experience to the Cardinals’ special team unit. Last season, he had a career-high 11 special teams tackles.
What’s the risk: Walker is another player who comes with little risk. He’ll fit a specific role on Arizona’s defense but has spent two-thirds of his career not starting, so if he only plays in certain packages, he won’t be taken off guard.
Mitch:
Mykal Walker is good for ILB depth and for ST production. He basically takes Krys Barnes’ backup role.
Curhan and Arizona agreed to a one-year deal.
What it means: Curhan adds more depth to an offensive line room that has needed to rely on its second-, third- and fourth-stringers recently. Curhan can play both tackle and guard, giving offensive coordinator Drew Petzing some flexibility in how he utilizes Curhan, who started the last two games of the 2024 season for the
Chicago Bears. He won’t be the swing tackle to start — that job belongs to
Kelvin Beachum — but Curhan may not be far behind. He could come in and compete for a starting guard job but the starting tackles are firmed up.
What’s the risk: There’s very little risk to adding Curhan because he’s not expected to come in and compete for a starting tackle job. He’s spent his career both playing and not playing, so he can adapt to any situation thrown his way.
Mitch: it would be a bit surprising to see Jake Curhan make the 53, but he could be a good, versatile OL on the PS and be ready to be called up if and when necessary.
Arizona and Davis-Gaither agreed to a two-year deal.
What it means: Davis-Gaither gives the Cardinals more depth — and options — at outside linebacker as an off-ball linebacker. He’s young and will be able to fill in the holes on a defense that’s been focused on building its pass rush this offseason. He’ll be part of the rotation at outside linebacker and able to drop into coverage, and will be a good complement to
Zaven Collins.
What’s the risk: He’s entering a now-crowded outside linebacker room and although his specialty isn’t rushing off the edge, finding snaps for him may be an issue for defensive coordinator Nick Rallis — especially when Davis-Gaither and Collins share some of the same roles.
Mitch: Wasn’t Akeem Davis-Gaither signed to be a starter at ILB? That’s where he played well for the Bengals down the stretch last year. The Cardinals are high on what they see in ADG because he can stop the run and, equally importantly, be an athletic factor in pass coverage (clearly the coaches’ priority this off-season is to address the poor ILB pass coverage from the past two seasons). I imagine that the coaches believe they may have found this year’s surprise version of ILB Zach Baun.
Arizona and Sweat agreed to a four-year deal.
What it means: The Cardinals got the help they’ve been seeking in their pass rush. In Sweat, Arizona has a Day 1 starter off the edge and someone who’s expected to make an instant impact. He’ll be reunited with Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon, who was Sweat’s defensive coordinator with the
Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and 2022, which was the best two-year stretch of Sweat’s career with 18.5 sacks. The Cardinals set out to bolster their pass rush this offseason, with edge rusher one of their two top priorities, and with Sweat, they can check that box.
What’s the risk: Can Sweat produce at the level the Cardinals need him to? He’s coming off an eight-sack season but that’s the most of seven-year career besides 2022, when he had 11. Gannon got the most of him, and even though Gannon won’t be coaching him day-to-day, Sweat will have Rallis, another former Eagles assistant, who knows what Sweat is capable of.
Mitch: if you watched Josh Sweat’s press conference, he clearly was told by JG and Nick Rallis that his role will be to charge the edge on pretty much every down. That said, his sack numbers could go up this season.
Collier and Arizona reached a one-year deal on Wednesday.
What it means: Collier, who is coming off the best season of his career, gives the Cardinals a prominent figure in the middle of its defensive line, an area that Arizona tried to upgrade this offseason. He’s a player who Arizona likes having in its locker room and brings more veteran presence to a room that needed it last year but should welcome back some other injured veterans this year.
What’s the risk: There’s little risk to re-signing Collier aside from injury. Even if he doesn’t end up playing as much as he did last year because of how the roster is constructed and because injured linemen return, for one year at his salary, it’s a low-risk signing for Arizona.
Mitch: L.J. Collier started to make some noise as in interior pass rusher the second half of last season. His role should be as a situational pass rusher. He has not played well versus the run since converting to 34 DE two years ago. 44.1 RDEF and 34.7 tackling grades in 2024.
Arizona and Brissett agreed to a two-year deal Tuesday.
What it means: Brissett is the veteran backup that both the Cardinals and quarterback
Kyler Murray need at the moment. Brissett has experience with coach Jonathan Gannon from their time together with the
Indianapolis Colts, and he played for offensive coordinator Drew Petzing with the
Cleveland Browns in 2022. Having a familiarity with the system and the coaching staff will help Brissett get acclimated to his role even quicker — and be better prepared if he has to step in and play at any point next season.
What’s the risk: There’s little to no risk with Brissett, especially because of his familiarity with Petzing’s offense. Brissett is the type of quarterback who can adjust to whatever situation he’s in, so Petzing and the Cardinals won’t have to adapt to a new signal caller going in.
Mitch: The risk is spending $8M guaranteed on a 32-year-old backup who was 4-7 with Petzing in 2022 and 1-4 with Alex Van Pelt (another Stefanski tree OC) in 2024.
Arizona and Jones agreed to a deal on Tuesday.
What it means: With Jones, the Cardinals get a veteran presence in their receivers room to help mentor its slew of younger receivers like
Marvin Harrison Jr. and
Michael Wilson. Jones, who played in11 games last season, can also be another option for quarterback
Kyler Murray, using his veteran savviness in an offense that thrives when multiple receivers are involved.
What’s the risk: There’s little risk by re-signing Jones to one year, especially when the Cardinals are poised to take another step offensively.
Mitch: The risk is giving more reps, plus spending $2.4M on Zay Jones at 30 coming off an 8 catch for 84 yards and 0 TDs season, than to some of the talented younger WRs like Xavier Weaver, Simi Fehoko, Tejhuan Palmer and Trishton Jackson.
The Cardinals agreed to a two-year deal with guard Brown.
What it means: The Cardinals kept a key piece of their offensive line by bringing back Brown for two years. His return means there’ll continue to be continuity on a line that hasn’t had it for a while. He’s consistent and durable, having started all 17 games last season. And he’s liked in the locker room. The Cardinals see him as a good culture guy.
What’s the risk: There’s very little. The most obvious one is injury, especially coming off a season in which Brown played all 17 games. He gives quarterback
Kyler Murray another familiar face up front.
Mitch: Evan Brown (65.9) turned in a very respectable season in 2024 as they team’s starter at LG. His biggest issue was getting dominated by the Seahawks’ star DT Leonard Williams during both the team’s losses at SEA and at ARI (hopefully that changes in 2025). Brown is a strongman, weightroom warrior and a good leader. Counting him at $5M on the cap in 2025 is a good deal for both the Cardinals and Evan Brown at this point in his career.
Not Mentioned (all very good signings imo:
- LS Aaron Brewer —- he’s excellent
- OLB Baron Browning —- might turn out to be one of the top 2-3 free agent signings and could have a breakout 10+ sack season rushing opposite Josh Sweat
- S Joey Blount —- STs stud
- WR Greg Dortch —- STs stud and to date the best RAC WR on the roster
- CB Jaylon Jones —- Kyler’s teammate at Allen HS (TX) has speed and upside
- TE Travis Vokolek —- very good run-blocking TE
ROTB Questions
Ben Solak told us what he loved and what he didn’t love.
Tell us:
- What did you love?
- What didn’t you love?
- Do you agree with the #13 ranking?
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