ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals have officially signed first-round pick Walter Nolen III.
Only Will Johnson has yet to sign his rookie contract out of Arizona's 2025 draft class.
More from Nolen via the team's media relations department:
"Nolen III (6-4, 296) was a consensus first-team All-American and first-team All-SEC selection last season at Mississippi after finishing the year with career-highs in tackles (48), sacks (6.5), tackles for loss (14), passes defensed (three) and fumble recoveries (two) while starting all 13 games.
"Nolen helped the Rebels finish last season with the best run defense (80.5 ypg) in the nation while ranking second in scoring defense (14.4 ppg) and third in sacks (52). He played at Ole Miss in 2024 after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Texas A&M. In 35 career games (27 starts) in college, Nolen totaled 114 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 26.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, three fumble recoveries and four passes defensed."
The Cardinals move into the future with Nolen to potentially anchor their defensive line after a nice stint at Ole Miss, where Nolen flashed dominance that saw comparisons to Aaron Donald.
Of course those comps are a stretch, but the Cardinals see the potential in Nolen.
"Disruption, disruption," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said when asked about Nolen after drafting him.
"We've talked about it a lot. We wanted to have a more disruptive defensive unit. We think we've added players that can help us do that. When we find players that can affect the middle of the pocket, it puts a lot of stress on the offense.
"Walter is another guy that we think can help us do that."
Nolen arrives to a Cardinals defensive line that also features names such as Calais Campbell, Dalvin Tomlinson and Darius Robinson among others.
The Cardinals hope to make a playoff push in 2025 after almost doing so last season, and reinforcements to the defense only make hope around the facility stronger in that thinking.