The Arizona Cardinals have been busy in this year’s free agency period. GM Monti Ossenfort needed to get down and dirty while finding new talent to replace the ones who weren’t getting it done.
Maybe the Cardinals will be able to compete in the ultra-competitive NFC West Division this year instead of being the ones who have to sweep up the parking lot, being in the basement position.
RELATED: ANALYSIS AND GRADING OF THE OFFENSIVE SIGNINGS
Ossenfort has signed 20 players to date. Think about that. That
is almost half a roster. The breakdown is nine players on offense, four on special teams, and seven on defense. And that’s just the first wave from the first two weeks.
Now comes the second wave of free agent signings. Often, players and agents will wait to sign new contracts to see whether the market for a certain position becomes more valuable, so the agent can negotiate a better financial deal for his client instead of inking a deal right out of the gate. Other athletes end up on the second level of signings and are approached later rather than sooner.
Still others sign whatever deal comes their way to ensure they are participating in somebody’s training camp instead of looking for employment in the UFL or CFL, taking a substitute teaching job back home, or working in their dad’s tire store.
Has Ossenfort solved all the issues with the Cardinals?
For the offense, he signed a seasoned backup QB (Minshew), a complement RB (Allgeier) as well as RB3 (Knight), the best interior offensive lineman available on this year’s market in LG Isaac Seumalo, a new RT (Wilkinson), a true WR3 (Bourne), a player to solidify the fourth receiver position (Fehoko), quality offensive line depth (Pryor and Udoh), and a blocking tight end (Quitoriano).
What’s left to accomplish?
Right guard.
This may not be solved in free agency, as Ossenfort has with other positions. Right now, the depth chart has Isaiah Adams as the starter and Matt Pryor as his backup. This may become the problem area that is not resolved going into April.
Adams (6’-4”, 315 pounds) was selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft and the 71st player taken after a great career at several colleges: Illinois, Garden City Community College, and Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. He was drafted as a future player on the interior of the offensive line. And he has played and started games.
As a rookie, he played in 15 games with five starts. This past season, he played in all 17 contests with 11 starts. But the Cardinals’ offensive line was constant agony for most of the year, and at season’s end, it was ranked #26. The run game was abysmal after both starting backs ended up on IR, and career backups and practice squad guys carried the remainder of the season.
The term “underperforming” was putting it nicely. This was a dumpster fire all season.
Adams and LG Evan Brown were blamed for most of the issues along the offensive line. Add another problem area in OT Kelvin Beachum, and the line suffered from a lack of consistency. Smartly, Ossenfort dumped Evans and signed Seumalo (6’-4”, 303 pounds), which solved that side of the interior, then allowed Beachum to test the free agent waters, which he remains unsigned.
C Hjalte Froholdt (6’-5”, 310 pounds) is a very good player and deserves more attention than he receives. LT Paris Johnson (6’-6”, 325 pounds) was injured last year, but when healthy, is one of the best. In free agency, Ossenfort signed Wilkinson (6’-6”, 310 pounds), who manned the right tackle spot for the Atlanta Falcons for the past two seasons.
That leaves right guard.
The solution?
Coming out of training camp last year, Adams was praised for his improvement since his rookie campaign with the belief that drafting him was exactly what Arizona needed. However, in live games, it was obvious he was out of his league. He struggled early and by Week 5 was benched for the veteran Will Hernandez.
Then Hernandez became injured, so the coaching staff had no other choice but to put Adams back into the lineup at right guard. But he continued to struggle and often could not manhandle meatier defensive tackles. Adams can hold his own on passing downs, but his run blocking isn’t good. Not good at all. In most games, he appeared overwhelmed. His Pro Football Focus grade for 2025 is a disappointing 57.2. In just 11 games, he had seven penalties and allowed 23 pressures.
If Adams struggles in training camp this year when he lines up in actual games, the new coaching staff will need to re-evaluate where they are with Adams and see if their plans include him. But for now, he is in the mix for the starting right guard spot.
Hernandez (6’-2”, 332 pounds) is another option. Currently, he remains unsigned as an unrestricted free agent but could be re-signed to a lesser deal. Last year, he dealt with hip and knee injuries.
Currently listed on the depth chart behind Adams is Pryor (6’-7”, 332 pounds). He is a huge man, and last year his PFF grade was a healthy 71.6. He only allowed three sacks, had one penalty, and just four pressures. He has plenty of game experience with 109 NFL games played with 40 starts. He may come out of training camp as the new starter, or he may compete with Wilkinson for the right tackle job and could very well become the starter there instead.
Olisaemeka Udoh (6’-6”, 320 pounds) is another option. He has just 22 NFL starts, but has played in 74 games. Of his 22 career starts, 14 have come at RG.
Maybe Ossenfort isn’t done with his free agent signings. Perhaps, he is still looking for the answer at right guard and in negotiations with some player’s agent as we speak. But remember, the list has been cherry-picked. Many times, the second wave is guys nobody wants.
Kevin Zeitler (6’-4”, 332 pounds) of the Tennessee Titans is a seasoned veteran, is 36, but he’s still capable of blocking at a high level. James Daniels (6’-4”, 320 pounds) of the Miami Dolphins is a tremendous talent when he is on the field and just 28 years old, but he is injury-prone and has only played five games in the last two seasons, rehabbing from an Achilles tear plus a pectoral injury.
Then, there’s the NFL draft coming up in a month. The Cardinals own the #3 pick, but does a team select an offensive guard with the third overall slot? If they trade down a bit, they can grab OG Francis Mauigoa out of Miami or Penn State OG Vega Ioane. Or perhaps Gennings Dunker high in the second round or Georgia Tech OG Keylan Rutledge in the third round.
Has Ossenfort done a good job with his free agent signings? Is he finished, or just pausing between tee times?
One thing is certain: If the offense fails again this year, it won’t be because the offensive line has played horribly. Nope. This group has been transformed, and it is exactly what was needed to happen.
Now, where is that box of Wilson Staff Model X balls?
