Antonio Cromartie says there’s ‘potential’ in the Arizona Cardinals’ secondary
May 21, 2014, 7:41 PM | Updated: 8:15 pm
When the Arizona Cardinals signed cornerback Antonio Cromartie, they bolstered an already strong secondary.
Cromartie, a three-time Pro Bowler — including each of the past two seasons — will line up with cornerback Patrick Peterson to create one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL.
“There’s a lot potential here,” Cromartie said at OTAs on Tuesday. “It’s all about us coming and gelling together.”
Cromartie, 30, was the Jets’ top cornerback in 2013 after the team traded Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay. In his eight-year career, the last four with New York, Cromartie intercepted 28 passes.
On the other side of the field, Peterson has 12 career interceptions and has emerged as an elite cornerback. After dabbling a bit on offense and being the team’s primary punt returner the last three seasons, Peterson is expected to be focused squarely on his defensive role in 2014.
“It’s a passing league,” Peterson said. “It’s going to take us to win ballgames.”
All of the potential that the Cardinals have still has to materialize on the field, and the back end of the secondary is relatively young.
Peterson, entering his fourth season in the NFL, is the longest tenured with the Cardinals among the likely secondary starters in 2014.
Second-year safety Tyrann Mathieu is coming off tears to his ACL and LCL and first-round pick Deone Bucannon figures to start a rookie.
“I’m in love with the new look,” Peterson said.
