The Arizona Cardinals didn’t waste any time utilizing the legal tampering period and the first few days of free agency this offseason.
On top of bringing in a plethora of familiar faces, including defensive lineman L.J. Collier, pass rusher Baron Browning and offensive lineman Evan Brown, Arizona turned its attention to upgrading the roster with proven outside talent.
The biggest fish the Cardinals reeled in are headlined by pass rusher Josh Sweat and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, a pair of no-doubt starters in Nick Rallis’ defense.
Inside linebacker Mykal Walker has 25 starts on his NFL resume and could be an option alongside Mack Wilson Sr. Akeem Davis-Gaither is another name to watch on the inside of the formation, too.
There’s no doubt the Cardinals have gotten better this offseason from an on-paper standpoint.
That hasn’t stopped Cardinals fans from expressing their disappointment that Arizona isn’t doing more in this first week of free agency.
To that contingent, I have some bad news.
The Tomlinson addition likely signaled the end of Arizona’s heavy lifting this free agency period.
And that’s OK.
While it’s easy to take a page out of the fantasy football life and dream of the possibilities of adding every high-profile free agent on the market, it’s just not feasible.
It’s not like the Cardinals haven’t spent, either. Their $164 million this free agency period is the sixth most among NFL teams, according to OverTheCap.
The Cardinals are definitely in a good place when looking at the cap and have the wiggle room to spend even more this offseason. But in the same breath, some of that must be allocated to adding more depth.
We’ve already seen that in practice with the re-signing of Kelvin Beachum and quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
In a perfect world, Beachum and Brissett won’t see the field in 2025, but that reality is far from 100%.
After watching Arizona work through injury after injury last year, having plenty of backup options is a luxury.
And the Cardinals are getting there with their recent moves, especially when looking at the potential rotation at pass rusher and defensive line. Those spots look just about set outside of more depth.
Inside linebacker looks done, too, meaning that reunion with MIKE backer Kyzir White that many wanted to see (myself included) likely isn’t happening. Sorry, little Kyzir.
But before you start reaching for a paper bag to hyperventilate at the thought of Arizona slowing down from a free agent standpoint, there is a light at the end of the tunnel: The 2025 NFL Draft.
Sure, the free agency pool is drying up by the day, with plenty of names changing places in the span of less than a week.
April’s draft, though, presents a massive acquisition tool for the Cardinals’ current regime under general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon.
And following Arizona’s free agent haul up to this point, the avenues the Cardinals could go in the early rounds are becoming clearer.
I don’t know about you, but adding a young offensive lineman in the first round of the draft seems like a wise move to make after shoring up multiple spots along the defensive line.
The two names standing above the rest in that regard include Ohio State’s Josh Simmons, which could be a potential trade-down target for Arizona, and Alabama’s Tyler Booker.
Either way, it feels like it’s time to start looking much more toward the NFL Draft for Arizona’s next big acquisition.
So, sit back, pull up the Arizona Sports Mock Draft Tracker and play general manager for the next month. It’ll all be OK.