Arizona Cardinals: Dwight Freeney a potential game-changer

The Arizona Cardinals just might be the best team in the NFC right now despite dropping a game to the rival St. Louis Rams in Week 4, and it’s hard to find a team that is being coached better. Thanks to Tyrann Mathieu, Patrick Peterson, and the “No Fly Zone”, the Cardinals have allowed a meager 5.9 net yards per pass attempt and are the NFL’s fifth-best scoring defense overall. Tony Jefferson, Justin Bethel, and second-year breakout player Deone Bucannon round out the rest of the Cardinals secondary, which has a great mix of depth and top-end talent.

ALSO ON SPIN ZONE: Is Freeney one of the best defensive players ever?

What’s missing, however, is an edge rush, and it’s been a difficult problem for the Cardinals to solve. Even last year when they started the campaign as one of the NFC’s strongest teams and finished by nailing a playoff spot despite playing Drew Stanton and Ryan Lindley at quarterback, the Cardinals didn’t have an impact pass rusher outside of elite 3-4 defensive end Calais Campbell. Todd Bowles made it work by dialing up creative blitzes and using rotations at outside linebacker, but the Cardinals have always been in the market for an edge rusher.

More from Arizona Cardinals

It looks like they’ve found their guy, as the NFL Network’s Rand Getlin reports that the Cardinals are signing Dwight Freeney to a one-year deal. Of course, this contract is pending a physical, since Freeney is a 35-year-old pass rusher who has been outside of game action for quite some time.

That said, Freeney hasn’t looked like a washed-up player at all, and he did a great job of staying healthy last year, bouncing back from a season-ending injury in 2013 to give the San Diego Chargers 16 high-quality appearances in the 2014 regular season. Outside of Eric Weddle and Brandon Flowers in the secondary, Freeney was the Chargers third-best player on defense and was a consistent force, disrupting opposing passing attacks as the team’s top pass rushers.

You could look at the basic stats and come away disappointed with the fact that Freeney had just 3.5 sacks as a member of the Chargers last season, but that would be unfairly ignoring the copious amount of pressure he had. The name of the game is putting pressure on the QB, and that’s especially true for a 3-4 outside linebacker. He combined so well with rising DE Corey Liuget last year that you can only imagine how much Campbell would benefit from having Freeney, who was sixth among all 3-4 OLBs in Pro Football Focus’s Pass Rushing Productivity last season, helping him out.

This signing has the change to be a huge game-changer for an already-elite Cardinals team, because Dwight Freeney can be the missing piece for this defense. Right now (without this being an official deal), it’s hard to come away impressed with the team’s current crop of OLBs. LaMarr Woodley and Alex Okafor, for example, occasionally come up with some nice plays to set the opposing offense back with a sack, but neither player is a consistent force or source of pressure. Youngsters Kareem Martin and Markus Golden have ability, but more help was needed.

I’d consider Freeney to be potentially huge help, and I like this low-risk gamble from the Cardinals organization. Steve Keim and the Cards hit an obvious home run by signing Chris Johnson, who has been one of the NFL’s best backs through five weeks and is already a huge key to success for this team. Considering the fact that the Cards don’t have an OLB of the caliber of Andre Ellington or rookie David Johnson at RB, signing Freeney could prove to be just as important, even if he doesn’t have the success CJ?K has had in a Cardinals uni.

There’s no guarantee that this 35-year-old flier signing will pay off, but what’s clear is that the Arizona Cardinals needed some pass rushing help. Freeney, as we saw last season, can still be the alpha dog for a pass rush, and adding a future Hall of Famer who is coming off of a strong season is rarely a bad idea, especially when you are a division leader with a need. Heck, if Freeney can play like he did last year, then this could be the sort of veteran addition that could push the Cardinals over the top. He might not start due to his age, but he can still make a nice impact in a situational role at the very least.

Next: How low did the Cardinals pick in our latest Mock Draft and who did they take?

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/Arizona Cardinals