It is interesting to read the barrage of article citing what each NFL team should do this offseason, or what the hardest decision they should make, or who they should let go.
One piece that is always not just intriguing to read, but has good information behind it is that of Football Outsiders Daring Moves each team should make this offseason.
For the Cardinals, FO makes a case that we have not seen a lot of.
Arizona Cardinals: Re-sign Patrick Peterson and Haason Reddick
The cap situation might work to Arizona’s benefit here: Teams aren’t going to have as much spending room as they usually do, and veterans will likely settle for one-year deals, hoping for a bigger jackpot in 2022. The Cards are 15th in effective cap space, per Over the Cap, and with Kyler Murray still on his rookie deal, they could easily find $9 million or so for Peterson. At age 31 and in this market, he might not find a better deal.
If they can get that deal done, they could use the franchise tag on Reddick. That would cost them about $15.7 million, a reasonable value for a good 27-year-old edge rusher. Pairing Reddick with a healthy Chandler Jones would give Arizona a set of bookend pass-rushers few teams could match.
The Cardinals have a couple of decisions to make and most of the time it seems like an either or proposition.
However, FO posits that the Cardinals could find a way to retain both free agents that are at premium positions. That means quite the contract restructuring, but it would also allow a defense that improved last year to stay together for the most part.
What do you think about FO’s daring move for the Cardinals?
Leave a Reply