The Arizona Cardinals are still more than a month away from the start of free agency. Because of where the team wishes to be in the next year, they will likely make some surprisingly aggressive moves.

However, before those happen, there are some moves the Cardinals can make.

Before free agency begins officially and they make their big moves, they can do some things with their own players before the start of the new league year.


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"Extend" Chandler Jones

 (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The Cardinals have a few options to deal with Jones’ contract, which counts more than $20 million against the cap this year. While a true extension would be nice, he might not want to do that because he could cash in on the open market in a year.

So if they can’t give him a real extension, they should do some cap manipulation and restructure his contract. The move would be to pay him $12 million in a bonus and add a voiding year for 2022. Instead of being paid $15.5 million in salary, he would get the $12 million up front and $3.5 million in salary during the year. It would drop his cap number by $6 million. It would push $6 million into 2022, but if they do decide to extend him after the season, they could make the cap hit work for next year, too.


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Redo CB Robert Alford's contract

Alford is expected to be a salary cap casualty. He carries a $9 million cap hit and he has yet to play a down in two years with the Cardinals. It makes sense because cutting him would save $7.5 million in cap space.

Rather than cutting him, redo his deal to be $1.5 million in salary plus the chance of making up to $4.5 million with playing time incentives.

The Cardinals can’t count on him to stay healthy but he has been one of the best players on the defense in training camp each of the last two seasons. He knows the defense and would give the Cardinals a solid No. 2 cornerback if he stays healthy.

Since he has already been paid $15 million by the Cardinals and hasn’t played a single game, he might be willing to take the deal so he has a job. At worst, he is experienced depth on the roster.

His cap hit is reduced to $3 million and the team saves another $6 million in cap space.


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Cut OLB Devon Kennard

This is actually a tough move. I was super excited about his addition a year ago and he started with good production. However, between his injury and contracting COVID, his spot in the playing rotation diminished.

I like what he offers but this move is to bring back a player with greater upside.

He is set to count $8 million against the cap in 2021. Releasing him will save the team $4.25 million in cap space.

The Cardinals would have $16.25 million in cap space in these three moves.


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Extend OLB Haason Reddick

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Reddick would replace Kennard in the starting lineup. The former first-round pick proved he can be an impact player. He offers more athleticism and bigger pass-rushing upside.

After his 12.5-sack season, some might think he will cash in, especially considering his age. However, Markus Golden did not find a big market last offseason and Reddick’s size will limit him to teams running a 3-4 defense.

If the Cardinals could get him on a three-year deal worth between $30 and $35 million, it would both reward him and potentially give the team a real threat opposite Chandler Jones. His estimated market value is an average salary of more than $11 million. This is in line with that estimation.  And with a three-year deal, it could be structured such that his cap hit is low in 2021, perhaps around $6 million.

Of the $16.25 million in saved cap space with the other moves, the Cardinals still have around $10 million remaining of the new space, allowing the team to make other moves once the new league year begins.

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