To whatever degree people talk about the Arizona Cardinals’ safety group, the conversation usually begins and ends with Budda Baker, the former Washington star selected in the second round of the 2017 draft. Baker is a dynamic player, and he’s certainly been paid as such — the Cardinals rewarded him for his exploits on the field with a four-year, $59 million contract extension in 2020 that makes him the sixth highest-paid safety in the NFL on a per-year basis.
But Baker isn’t the only Cardinals safety playing well these days. He’s not even the only one who went to a college in the Pacific Northwest, and now, he’s not the only one who’s been paid. On Friday, the Cardinals signed Jalen Thompson, the fourth-year man from Washington State taken in the fifth round of the 2019 supplemental draft, to a three-year, $40 million contract extension with $24.5 million in guaranteed money.
Baker may be a missile all over the field, but if you want intermediate and deep coverage from your safety, Thompson is the guy. Last season, he allowed 40 catches on 53 targets for 449 yards, 177 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, three interceptions, four pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 89.3.
It was his best season to date, and Thompson wants more.
“I’m trying to go Pro Bowl this year,” Thompson said during training camp. “Last year I feel I could’ve made it. Unfortunately I didn’t. But (goals are) making the Pro Bowl, making my team better, being a leader, and getting to a Super Bowl.”
That may not be in the cards for these Cardinals, but as underrated as Thompson has been in a national sense, he has no problem proving his worth at the NFL level.
Matching big receivers with confidence.
Thompson’s battles with Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf in Weeks 11 and 18 of the 2021 season were appointment viewing; though Thompson didn’t have any interceptions when Metcalf was the target and he was the assigned defender, he did have some pass breakups, and was able to lock Metcalf down at times as few other defensive backs can.
On this breakup in Week 18, Thompson (No. 34) matched Metcalf (No 14) through the intermediate crossing route so well, there wasn’t a realistic opening for Russell Wilson. Wilson threw the ball anyway, without success.
This deflection in Week 11 may have been even more impressive, because Thompson lined up at outside cornerback in Arizona’s Cover-3 look, and came across to take Metcalf from the right slot. From there, it was alpha on alpha, and Thompson won the battle.
Working the deep third.
Thompson played 481 of his 1,044 snaps in 2021 at free safety, and he does well in both split-field coverage, and as the sole deep-third defender. This interception against quarterback P.J. Walker of the Panthers in Week 10 was predicated to a degree on Walker missing the timing of the crosser to Terrace Marshall, but it was mostly about Thompson being in the right place at the right time.
If you want to know how sticky Thompson can be as a split-field defender, ask Robert Woods, the former Rams receiver (now with the Titans). Woods thought he had a touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford in Week 4, until Thompson decided that he didn’t.
Mr. Woods was clearly unhappy about this development.
Stopping the run.
Thompson’s 6-foot-0, 190-pound frame doesn’t just give him the tools to square off against huge aliens like Metcalf; it also sets him up well to defend the run. Thompson adds his dynamic playing personality to the mix, and you get plays like this against the Rams in the wild-card round, where he read the play, crashed in with timing, and limited Sony Michel to a three -yard gain.
How he can be even better.
Were we to get picky with Thompson’s skill set, which one tends to do when a player signs a generous new contract, we might say that Thompson is more of a technician than a pure speed guy — he needs to be correct when timing his break on the ball, because he won’t always have the recovery speed to make up for being late. Metcalf got him from the slot on this one.
Similarly, on this 52-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Van Jefferson in Week 14, Thompson was a bit too focused on Odell Beckham Jr. underneath, and had to try and catch up to Jefferson deep. As Thompson was the last line of defense, that did not go well. But as long as Thompson reads his keys, plays with discipline, and hits his marks in time, it’s all good.
Arizona's do-it-all safety got the deal he deserved.
Some might say that putting so much money into your safety duo when you have other glaring needs on the defensive side of the ball is a misappropriation of finds; I’d counter with the thought that in today’s NFL, if you don’t have two safeties who complement each other with multi-faceted skill sets, you will be playing from behind more often than you’d like.
Thompson was playing on the last year of his rookie deal, and if the Cardinals didn’t come with the money, someone else certainly was going to in 2023. That’s why the deal makes all the sense in the world for one of the NFL’s most underrated defenders, who’s finally getting some of the respect he deserves.
