Devon Kennard agrees to restructure deal to stay in Arizona, per report
Mar 9, 2022, 2:35 PM
Andy Dalton #14 of the Chicago Bears passes against Devon Kennard #42 of the Arizona Cardinals at Soldier Field on December 05, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cardinals defeated the Bears 33-22. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals linebacker Devon Kennard has agreed to restructure the last year of his contract and will stay with the team, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
Kennard signed a three-year, $20 million deal prior to the 2020 season. He was slated to have a base salary of $6.75 million with a total cap hit of just over $9 million. If Arizona had cut Kennard, his dead cap number would have been $4.2 million and saved the Cardinals $4.8 million, per OverTheCap.com.
The 30-year-old Kennard arrived in Arizona fresh off back-to-back seasons with seven sacks for the Detroit Lions. Kennard in his two seasons with the Cardinals, however, amounted to three total sacks, including zero in 2021.
While Kennard has not been the pass-rushing presence he was expected to be with that contract, he has still proven to be a solid depth piece for Arizona as a reliable veteran in the rotation on the outside. He played 280 snaps last season, third among outside linebackers and reached at least 24% of a game’s snaps in 11 of his 15 appearances.
On top of that, Kennard’s position group could be down a significant piece with Chandler Jones heading into free agency.
Wednesday included another cost-cutting move with the release of veteran inside linebacker Jordan Hicks. The Cardinals cutting Hicks saved them $6.5 million and puts $3 million in dead money on the Cardinals’ cap sheet.
