NFL.com’s Wesseling: Johnson, Powers are good fits for Arizona Cardinals
Mar 2, 2016, 3:39 PM
March is here.
With the NFL Scouting Combine in the books, teams around the league are now shifting focus to free agency, which begins March 7.
The Arizona Cardinals have 23 total free agents, including those in the exclusive and exclusive rights categories. One of the more important pending free agents is safety Rashad Johnson.
Johnson just finished up a three-year, $3.6 million contract with the Cardinals, the team he’s spent his entire seven-year NFL career with. In 2016, Johnson had a career-high and team-leading five interceptions for the NFC West champions.
But his value goes beyond statistics. The 30-year-old has proven to be an extension of the coaching staff on the field and is a key cog in leading communication in Arizona’s productive secondary.
Whether or not the Cardinals opt to bring Johnson back remains to be seen, but one NFL insider doesn’t think there will be a lot of teams clamoring for his services.
“I don’t know about a big market,” NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling told Bertrand Berry on Off the Edge with B-Train Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I think people took notice last year when he was injured toward the end of the season and everybody in Arizona spoke so highly of him. I’m sure people heard that around the league.
“But he’s another guy where it seems like the Cardinals value what he does and they’ll probably find a way to keep him.”
Earlier in the interview, Wesseling had similar things to say about cornerback Jerraud Powers, who is also about to hit free agency.
“I think it would be in his best interest to stay in Arizona,” Wesseling said. “He sort of followed Bruce Arians from Indianapolis to Arizona and it seems like they are big fans of each other. It would probably be in his best interest to stick with Bruce, I would imagine.
“I don’t think every team in the league considers him to be a starting-caliber player, so I think his best fit is with the Cardinals.”
Powers, 28, just completed a three-year contract worth $10.5 million he signed back in 2013. In three seasons, he’s played in 45 games (40 starts), intercepted five passes, and like Johnson, been a key veteran leader in the group.
