Keim: Cardinals want to see Patrick Peterson finish career as a Cardinal

With the Arizona Cardinals well into the offseason, the talks of contract decisions and extensions are starting to heat up.

One of those discussions is around veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson, who is set to become a free agent after the 2020 season.

“Pat is a guy — Michael [Bidwill] and I have talked many times about this — we’d love to see him retire as a Cardinal,” Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told Doug & Wolf on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

Peterson’s career started in Arizona after the organization drafted him fifth overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Prior to missing six games of the 2019 season with a PED suspension, Peterson tried to get his contract restructured in order to avoid losing out on pay, but no deal ever came to fruition.

“He’s under contract, and I think when you look at the body of work last year, he’d be one of the first to tell you he didn’t play up to expectations early on,” Keim said.

In 10 games this season, Peterson had two interceptions, one sack and 53 tackles. The Cardinals had to wait for the P2 effect to really kick in later on in the season.

Cardinals GM Steve Keim on @P2: "The last three games I thought he played excellent … I think that he's got a chip on his shoulder, and I think he's going to come back with a vengeance." pic.twitter.com/sIbcKoftoS

— 98.7 Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 14, 2020

“The last three games I thought he played excellent, played like we expected him to play. He’s got a chip on his shoulder,” Keim said. “I think he’ll come back with a vengeance.”

Keim noted that the Cardinals’ defense was plagued with issues all season long, but they played their best in the last four games of the year. With a younger defensive grouping under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, keeping a leader like Peterson will allow them to continue their upward swing.

“We had some suspensions and you had injuries that you can’t forecast,” Keim said. “Those aren’t excuses because everybody has to deal with a number of things, but we have to get better from a personnel standpoint on defense to give Vance a chance to be successful.”

Keim noted that the team has had conversations with Peterson about his contract, but until the ink is on the paper, nothing is a done deal.

Follow @Kaci_Demarest