Cardinals' top NFL free agency targets as 2025 offseason begins
01/19/2025 07:16 AM
In 2024, the Arizona Cardinals took a step forward under head coach Jonathan Gannon.
Unfortunately, while football is a game of inches, the Cardinals needed a few years more to really show the kind of progress their fanbase wanted to see, with an 8-9 record culminating in the 16th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft a bittersweet reward for coming close but no cigar behind the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West.
Their offense was okay, ranking 18th in passing yards and seventh in rushing yards, and while they did turn in some truly incredible performances in 2024, like their incredible 40-plus point bookend wins over the Rams in Week 2 and the San Francisco 49ers in Week 18, they were simply too few and far between.
Was it surprising that the Cardinals’ offense was inconsistent in 2024? Not really, as Kyler Murry was effectively learning a new scheme after missing most of last season, and Marvin Harris Jr. turned out a little differently than some fans initially expected.
What was surprising, however, was the Cardinals’ defensive struggles, as that was widely considered Gannon’s strength. Ranking 15th in points allowed but 21st in yards surrendered, with the 14th-ranked passing offense and the 20th-ranked rushing defense, the Cardinals really struggled with getting consistent pressure against opposing quarterbacks, with only one player, Zaven Collins, having five or more sacks on the season. Now granted, the team still finished out the year with 41 sacks, or roughly 2.4 per game, but they didn’t really have “a guy” to build their attack around, with 17 different players recording at least one sack on the season.
Could that player come in the draft? Maybe yes, maybe no, as there are plenty of interesting defenders with mid-first-round grades like Mykel Williams out of Georgia, Kenneth Grant from Michigan, Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, or even Jack Sawyer if he continues to blow up in the College Football Playoffs, but can the Cardinals guarantee that happens? Nope, not unless they surrender even more draft picks to select “their guy” up high, be that an elite edge like Abdul Carter or Mason Graham, who might remind Gannon of his former tone-setter with the Philadelphia Eagles, Fletcher Cox.
Would Gannon like to re-live his Philly glory days when his defensive efforts were so impressive if it landed him the Cardinals job in the first place? Most certainly, and in an interesting twist of fate, he has a chance to do that, as arguably his biggest Philadelphia success story, Javon Hargrave, was just released by the 49ers and could take a plane ride to Arizona for one more shot at becoming a double-digit sacker.
Jonathan Gannon is a massive fan of Javon Hargrave
If the Cardinals are going to pay big money for a Pro Bowl-caliber defensive tackle, even if Hargrave’s actual cap hit will almost certainly be lower than his $28.105 million cap hit in San Francisco would have been if everything worked out in the “Gravedigger’s” favor, they have to know he’s a fit on the field, right?
Most certainly, and when it comes to Hargrave, that vetting process would be an easy one, as all Monti Ossenfort would have to do is ring up his head coach, who has been singing the South Carolina product’s praises since 2021, when they both called South Philadelphia home.
“Javon played really well. We expected him to play well. He had a great training camp, the joint practices he played really well. That whole unit, there's a lot of guys, when he was out there, who he was playing with [defensive tackle] Fletcher Cox, B.G. [defensive end Brandon Graham], [defensive tackle] Milton [Williams], Sweaty [defensive Josh Sweat], [defensive end Derek] Barnett, those guys are helping him be the best version of himself as well. Those guys are winning at a high level,” Gannon told reporters back in 2021 via the Philly Tribune.
“Certain guys get a single block, and they win. Javon had a couple singles because of Fletch really. They want Fletch. Well, you can't double everybody. Personally, I expected him to play really well, and he did. I think the emphasis is between inside and outside guys, you need all of them. There's really no premium — everyone used to talk about you need an edge rusher and a good corner. What we talked about way back when, you need all 11, all 22 to be good players. Certain positions aren't ahead of other positions. I would think he executed. You'd like to be able to win from inside and win from outside. When you have the people to do that, it makes the quarterback's job pretty hard.”
Originally miscast as an undersized nose tackle with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which, in a way, only highlights his incredible interior strength, Hargrave really came into his own as a member of the Eagles, picking up 23 sacks, 161 tackles, and 42 QB hits on the way to his first of two Pro Bowl appearances. Even if some of that was because of Cox, who was still a certified difference-maker at the time, Hargrave still knew how to win in Hargrave’s scheme, which is half the battle.
The other half? Hargrave loves Gannon, too, as he credits him for really unlocking his NFL potential.
Javon Hargrave was still a Jonathan Gannon fan in San Francisco
When Gannon was coaching football on the opposite side of the country, it was easy for Gargrave to still co-sign his old defensive coordinator, but even in San Francisco, where the two sides were supposed to be heated rivals, Hargrave couldn’t help but remain a fan, as he noted before their first game against each other in September of 2023.
“He gave me a lot of freedom and talked to me during the week about what I liked and some of the plays he was going to call if we liked them. He's one those players' coaches that listens to players a lot to get the best out of them,” Hargrave declared via The Press Democrat. “I needed him, he needed me," Hargrave said. "I said thank you for everything he's done, and he said the same to me.”
In San Francisco, Hargrave was still a pretty good player but there was a certain je ne sais quoi that was missing on the field, even when he should have theoretically been thriving next to Nick Bosa. After making the Pro Bowl in 2023, Hargrave appeared in just three games in 2024 and was ultimately released to save money, even if the 49ers would welcome him back.
Unfortunately for Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch, and company, the Cardinals have $71.7 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap, and may want to add a building block veteran rusher to their front seven who can play a big role in ushering in the next generation of Cardinals pass rushers regardless of who ends up heading to Glendale in April’s draft.
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