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Arizona Cardinals: Impact of John Carlson’s retirement

By Kevin Parvizi

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Last offseason, the Arizona Cardinals signed veteran tight end John Carlson in order to help add some depth at one of their thinnest positions on the roster, as head coach Bruce Arians clearly wasn’t enamored with hyper-athletic TE Rob Housler, who is now a member of the previously TE-desperate Cleveland Browns.

Despite some injury concerns, Carlson managed to feature in every single game for the Cardinals in 2014, catching 33 passes for 350 yards and one touchdown. Those were slightly better numbers as compared to his work in 2013 with the Minnesota Vikings, though he played in three less games in 2013. Of course, the Cardinals quarterback situation after the Carson Palmer injury was even worse than the tag-team of Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel in Minnesota.

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According to Cardinals official site beat writer Darren Urban, Carlson has decided to retire today, and it’s an announcement that has caught all of us by surprise. While he isn’t an integral part of the team, Carlson looked like the safest option on a tight end depth chart that includes intriguing second-year prospect Troy Niklas and veteran blocker Daniel Fells.

Per Urban, Carlson was partaking in team workouts yesterday, so it was quite the sudden announcement and leaves the Cardinals in an awkward spot. Had he chosen to retire before the draft, then the Cardinals could have had an easier time looking into options, though they did draft Louisville product Gerald Christian as “Mr. Irrelevant”.

While Carlson’s retirement is shocking due to its suddenness, I’m not sure many people are surprised that he’s decided to hang them up. This is a guy who has suffered from multiple concussions in his career, and he seriously considered retirement last offseason following a severe concussion that ended his season after 13 appearances. Carlson decided to take a two-year deal with the TE-needy Cardinals as a stable veteran for Arians, and he earned himself the starting job after beating out the likes of Niklas on the depth chart.

Carlson’s stay in Arizona lasted just one season, and his retirements put the focus on Niklas, who was the No. 52 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and easily has the most upside of any of the Cardinals tight ends. Fells won’t do much outside of blocking, and it’s hard to expect anything out of Christian in 2015, even if he is worth monitoring closely as a possible sleeper.

Even though Carlson wasn’t any sort of a world-beater at the tight end position and has actually under-achieved significantly ever since he caught a combined 12 touchdown passes in his first two seasons in the league (with the Seattle Seahawks), the Cardinals were counting on him to be a contributor next season, given the state of their depth chart at the position.

It’s a notable blow to the Cards depth at TE, as Carlson brings some value as a pass-catcher and blocker. That two-way ability seems to be important in an Arians-led offense, as the TE barely plays any sort of a pass-catching role outside of being a safety valve (which is why Carlson was signed and Housler was ignored last season).

October 19, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Arizona Cardinals tight end John Carlson (89) runs with the football during the first quarter against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 24-13. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, you could argue that John Carlson didn’t exactly do enough as a blocker to warrant a starting job, and his ineffectiveness last season (he struggled badly with drops, so he wasn’t exactly a safety valve) prevents this from being a truly huge loss for the Cardinals.

That said, they will miss his veteran presence, and he would have looked better this season now that the Cardinals have a better offensive line and a healthy Palmer.

Carlson had to keep his long-term health in mind when making this decision, and we can only wish him the best in the future. As a member of the Seahawks, he gave us plenty of good moments. At 30 (he’ll be 31 in exactly one week) and with just six seasons under his belt, Carlson becomes just the latest young player to retire, and head injuries are once again the story here.

It will be interesting to see if the Arizona Cardinals pursue any veteran upgrades, because the free agent market at the position isn’t exactly welcoming with Jacob Tamme and Tony Moeaki having signed for the Atlanta Falcons about a month ago. So it looks like another Notre Dame product, Niklas, will have to step up.

Next: David Johnson a big-time talent

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