The Arizona Cardinals are looking to see what they can do to improve their outside linebacker situation now that expected starter BJ Ojulari has been lost for the season with a torn ACL.
They signed Marquis Haynes but they also have their eyes on a couple of other veterans. Per multiple reports of the NFL transaction wire on Wednesday, the Cardinals brought in a pair of veteran pass rusher — Carl Lawson and Justin Hollins.
Carl Lawson
Lawson is 29 yards old and listed at 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds. He played the last two seasons for the New York Jets after four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2017.
Last season, he was not good. He played in six games, missing several with a back injury and also being a healthy scratch the final two games of the year. He had no sacks, no tackles for loss and no quarterback hits to go with his five total tackles.
However, he had seven sacks in 2022 and a career-high 8.5 as a rookie in 2017.
In his career, he has 27 sacks, 28 tackles for loss and 107 quarterback hits.
Justin Hollins
Hollins will turn 29 after the season’s end. He is 6-foot-5 and 248 pounds.
The Denver Broncos drafted him in the fifth round in 2019. He played a year for Denver, then the next two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. He split 2022 between the Rams and Green Bay Packers and played for three teams in 2023 — the Packers, New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers.
He has 10.5 career sacks in 67 career games (seven starts). His career-high in sacks is 3.5 in a season.
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