The Arizona Cardinals 2014 Free Agent Signings Analysis

The Arizona Cardinals do enough in the off season to win the NFC South?  The Arizona Cardinals in-depth analysis of the free agents signed and players lost for the 2014 NFL season. Will these additions help The Arizona Cardinals win the NFC South in 2014?

 

The Arizona Cardinals had a good 2013 season finishing 10-6. A great inaugural year for new head coach Bruce Arians and a revitalized QB Carson Palmer. Added three strong draft picks, Safety Deone Bucannon, TE Troy Niklas, and DE Kareem Martin and they should start impacting immediately. QB Logan Thomas will be a good future replacement for QB Carson Palmer when he retires. They also drafted two small, speedy receivers coupled with the signings of WR Ted Ginn should make up for losing WRs Andre Roberts and LaRon Byrd. Read an in-depth article on how I evaluated the 2014 Arizona Cardinals NFL Draft Report Card and Player Analysis. Karlos Dansby will be missed in the middle but the Cardinals plan on playing a speedier secondary with the signings of LeQuan Lewis and Ryan Williams and Antonio Cromartie. RB Rashad Mendenhall unexpectedly retired and the Cardinals signed free agent RB Jonathan Dwyer to fill that vacancy. The biggest signing was T Jared Veldheer who should be a fixture on the offensive line for many years to come.

Players lost in the off season to other teams

• Javier Arenas, CB--4th season, signed by The Atlanta Falcons


• Jasper Brinkley, ILB--5th season, signed by The Minnesota Vikings


• LaRon Byrd, WR--2nd season, signed by The Dallas Cowboys


• Antoine Cason, CB--6th season, signed by The Carolina Panthers


• Karlos Dansby, ILB--10th season, signed by The Cleveland Browns


• Jim Dray, TE--4th season, signed by The Cleveland Browns


• Dontay Moch, LB--2nd season, signed by The Cincinnati Bengals


• Andre Roberts, WR--4th season, signed by The Washington Redskins


• Ryan Williams, RB--3rd season, signed by The Dallas Cowboys

Players signed in free agency from other teams

• John Carlson, TE--6th season, signed from The Minnesota Vikings


• Antonio Cromartie, CB--8th season, signed from The New York Jets


• Jonathan Dwyer, RB--4th season, signed from The Pittsburgh Steelers


• Ted Ginn, WR--7th season, signed from The Carolina Panthers


• Ted Larsen, G--4th season, signed from The Tampa bay Buccaneers


• LeQuan Lewis, DB--2nd season, signed from The New England Patriots


• Jared Veldheer, T--4th season, signed from The Oakland Raiders


• Eddie Whitley, DB--Rookie, signed from The New Orleans Saints

Can The Arizona Cardinals Saints make it to the playoffs in 2014?

With the strength of the NFC West it is hard seeing the Arizona Cardinals having an opportunity making the 2014 playoffs unless the NFL becomes proactive in changing the structure of the playoff as has been reported in the news lately. The issue has legs and is a focal point of the NFL and it's future and would benefit teams that are stuck in extra competitive divisions, like the Cardinals. Unfortunately, if the status quo remains unchanged, the Cardinals again will not make the playoffs. They are just a player short in the receiver department and until that is fixed, nothing will change. Seattle and San Francisco are just too talented for the Cardinals to keep pace with regardless of how good their defense is. Having a great defense is awesome but you still have to put up 21+ a game to win in most cases.