The Arizona Cardinals are not in the playoffs after a 4-13 season. So Cardinals fans get to watch NFL playoff games with a different perspective. Some might watch to root against teams and some might have secondary teams or players they root for.
Something Cardinals fans can do is watch playoff games and pay attention to individual players who will be free agents in March.
The first game of the weekend has the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans.
Below are some players who will be free agents who could be fits for the Cardinals.
Browns EDGE Za'Darius Smith
Smith is 31 years old, which might not be in the plans of the Cardinals this offseason but he still had 5.5 sacks for the Browns. The Cardinals need all the help with their edge rush. They had one sack in their final six games.
Browns DT Shelby Harris
Harris is 32 years old but the Cardinals need all the help on the defensive line. Perhaps the most critical stat is this. He has missed a total of two games in his last three seasons.
The Cardinals had no defensive lineman play every game this season. He had 1.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, three QB hits and five tipped passes in 2023.
Browns LB Sione Takitaki
The Cardinals are good with Kyzir White at one linebacker position but Josh Woods and Krys Barnes are going to be free agents.
Takitaki played in 15 games, starting seven, and had a combined 65 tackles, two sacks, three pass breakups and an interception.
Browns DT Jordan Elliott
Elliott is 26 years old and played in all 17 games in each of the last two seasons. He had 2.5 sacks and 21 tackles this past season. Again, Arizona needs all the players on the defensive line.
Browns DT Maurice Hurst
Hurst didn’t start a game this season but had 22 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, five QB hits, three pass breakups and an interception. He is almost 29 years old.
Texans EDGE Derek Barnett
Barnett played in six games for the Texans and had 2.5 sacks. He is still relatively young at 27 years old and, while he has never panned out as a great pass rusher, he is still better than what the Cardinals had this season for the most part. He played for Jonathan Gannon in Philadelphia, which may help or hurt him. Who knows?
Texans DT Teair Tart
Tart played for Houston and Tennessee, meaning GM Monti Ossenfort likely knows a lot about him.
He had 24 tackles and a sack in 13 games between the two teams (nine starts).
But since the Cardinals simply need players on the defensive line, he would be an upgrade, probably.
Texans EDGE Jonathan Greenard
Greenard had 12.5 sacks this season. He will get paid for sure. He also added 15 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits.
Texans WR Noah Brown
Brown is 6-2, 215 and is 28 years old.
He had only 33 receptions for 567 yards but, when his number was called, he was good.
He had games of eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, seven catches for 172 yards and a game with six catches for 153 yards and a touchdown.
More Cardinals, NFL content
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
