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The Cardinals have developed a few blind spots and blemishes in their five-year absence from the playoffs. Over the space of just a few hours on Monday, we were reminded of two of them.
In the morning, the team announced it had released 10 players, including receiver KeeSean Johnson. And in the afternoon, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported cornerback Malcolm Butler is dealing with a personal situation and contemplating retirement.
Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinals placed Butler on the reserved/retired list.
At receiver and cornerback, Cardinals fans long ago stopped asking themselves “why can’t we have nice things?”
Instead, it’s “why can’t we have average things?”
The team hasn’t been able to successfully end quests to find competent, healthy players to complement stars at either position.
At receiver, it’s been a struggle to find a complement to Larry Fitzgerald and DeAndre Hopkins.
At cornerback, it has been an adventure searching for someone to play alongside Patrick Peterson. And in the seasons Patrick Peterson didn’t play like Patrick Peterson, the lack of talent at the position was even more noticeable.
Typically, the departure of a player with Johnson’s credentials wouldn’t garner much attention. A sixth-round pick in 2019, Johnson caught 36 passes in two years. Guys like that fill the NFL’s transaction notices, especially as teams cut to 53-man rosters.
But Johnson’s release is notable because he was one of three receivers the Cardinals drafted in 2019.
There’s an axiom in the NFL that the best way to address a weak position is to flood it with players, increasing the odds that at least one of them is going to work out.
That year, coach Kliff Kingsbury’s first as head coach, the Cardinals took Andy Isabella in the second round, Hakeem Butler in the fourth and Johnson in the sixth. That spring and early in training camp, it looked as if Johnson might be the best of the three.
Two years later, it looks as if the Cardinals missed on all three. Hakeem Butler spent his rookie year on injured reserve and was cut in 2020. The Eagles released him a week ago.
Isabella was drafted because of his speed, but he’s shown that’s of little use without the ability to track and catch the ball. He caught 30 passes the last two years.
The failures of the 2019 trio were a continuation of a theme for General Manager Steve Keim.
He scored a hit when he took John Brown in the third round in 2014 and J.J. Nelson in the fifth round in 2015.
Since then, not one of the five receivers Keim selected has performed as expected. Chad Williams (third round, 2017) lasted two years in Arizona and caught 20 passes in three NFL seasons. He’s out of the league.
Christian Kirk (second round, 2018) has produced intermittently, but drops and injuries make him a question mark.
As Fitzgerald aged and draft picks flopped, Keim pursued other routes, including trading for Hopkins and signing A.J. Green to a one-year deal earlier this year. With Hopkins and Green on the outside, and Kirk and rookie Rondale Moore, a second-round pick, working inside, the Cardinals might have more diversity at receiver than in recent years.
“A.J. adds that dynamic, he’s every bit of 6-4,” Kirk said. “That red zone, jump-ball, goal-line ability, just to be able to make those contested catches because he’s such a big body. And then Rondale adds an explosive, dynamic aspect of being able to work out of the backfield. He’s a jack of all trades.
“We have a really good dynamic now and the sky’s the limit.”
At cornerback, Keim went years without seriously trying to upgrade through the draft. He’s selected six cornerbacks in nine drafts, and only two in the first three rounds: Brandon Williams (third round, 2016) and Byron Murphy (second, 2019).
Mostly, Keim filled the other spots with free agents, with mixed results. Jerraud Powers, Antonio Cromartie and Tramon Williams worked out. Dre Kirkpatrick and Robert Alford, who was injured the past two years, did not.
Malcolm Butler was the latest in that long line of free agents, signing a one-year deal worth $3.25 million. But now, less than two weeks before the season starts, he’s reportedly contemplating retirement.
There’s a chance his contemplation might have something to do with the play of Marco Wilson, a fourth-round pick out of Florida.
Tuesday, Kingsbury declined to provide specifics Butler’s status, assuming the coach has some. He did say he has not talked to Butler.
But Kingsbury had no hesitancy when asked about Wilson. “Marco’s emergence has been really impressive,” he said. “He’s played at the highest level when you talk about college football. The moment is not too big for him.”
This is good news, given the team’s dearth of talented young cornerbacks in recent years. The way the game is played today, a team can’t have too many of those guys. Or of talented receivers.
Over the last five years, we’ve what the lack of those players looks like. Hovering around .500 and staying home in the post-season.
Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers. Hear Somers every Friday at 7:30 a.m. on The Drive with Jody Oehler on Fox Sports 910 AM.
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