For Cardinals, NFL, Time To Talk Free Agency Is Here

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The salary cap was set at $182.5 million. Given rollover cap money and other adjustments, the Cardinals' actual cap this year is about $192M.


Of course, any team can make any contract fit if they are willing to make the effort – the Cards' one free-agent signee so far, J.J. Watt, will make $14.5 million this year but his cap number is less than $5M. But there are decisions to be made, and the sheer volume of players available as teams make cuts across the league should make for some bargains, if only for one season.


"There are a number of players that I feel will hit the market that'll make money and get long-term contracts, but at the same time, there is going to be, to me, a number of players that traditionally would have gotten long-term deals that are probably going to have to settle for one-year, prove-it-type situations," Keim said. "For us, the way we are and the way you want to construct your roster with a lower cap, you'd like to think you can be in position to play a number of young guys who are on rookie contracts just to be able to manage things in a healthy respect moving forward."


Keim's usual goal in free agency is to plug every hole as possible, so the draft can be used to seek the best player available at the time. Last season, the Cards were able to land Isaiah Simmons in the draft, but had signed De'Vondre Campbell earlier to make sure there wasn't a gaping divot going into April.


This year, finding at least one significant cornerback, a wide receiver, an interior offensive lineman and perhaps a running back are all positions of possibility in free agency.


The Cardinals can still make some moves to clear more cap space (they released cornerback Robert Alford last week) and that can be a difficult conversation to have, Keim acknowledged. Regardless, the Cards want to keep the cap as "clean" as possible, avoiding too much in future dead money hits while trying to build a contender around QB Kyler Murray.


"It's making sure we can get through this thing in a healthy manner, you just don't want to do anything that is going to put you in a tough position for future years, especially when you have a quarterback on a rookie contract," Keim said. "We know this is a time we can capitalize."

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