Arizona Cardinals: Darnell Dockett released out of necessity

The Arizona Cardinals were able to save some money by agreeing to restructure franchise icon Larry Fitzgerald‘s contract, but they weren’t able to bring down the cap number of well-known defensive end Darnell Dockett, who is 33 and was heading into the final year of his contract. Per sources close to ace insider Dianna Marie Russini, the Cardinals have decided to party ways with Dockett in a move that isn’t surprising overall, but it is surprising to see that it has already happened.

When the Cardinals restructured Fitzgerald’s deal, they expressed the desire to have him retire with the organization, and they’ve probably achieved that goal. Interestingly enough, team president Michael Bidwell also stated that the Cards wanted Dockett to retire with the team, contingent on him accepting a restructured deal.

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But the thing is, Dockett only had one season left on his deal, so “restructure” equaled “paycut” in this case, and that’s something Dockett simply wasn’t willing to do. It’s well within his right to say, “Heck no,” and it’s admirable whenever an athlete puts his foot on the ground and says that. They could have added an extra year to his deal to make it a true restructure, but I have a feeling the Cardinals didn’t want to throw around more guaranteed money despite the fact that they may have been open to a true restructure of some sort.

I know it’s the opposite of what we want athletes to be (the contrived “team player” nonsense, because that assumes the team gives a crap about the player), but the NFL already stacks things up against the players anyway; they have to look out for themselves.

Just as players must look out for their own interest, so too do teams, and the fact of the matter is that the Cardinals simply couldn’t afford to keep Dockett around. I mean, there was no way for this to end well without Dockett being amicable to taking a paycut, since the Cardinals have cap issues and their eyes set on star RB Adrian Peterson. Oh, and they also have to monitor nose tackle Dan Williams, who is an impending free agent and seems ready to test the open market in the hopes of landing a deal befitting his size up the middle.

The Cardinals have big ambitions as a team going forward, but Darnell Dockett simply wasn’t anywhere near worth his price tag, because while he can be dominant, he’s also inconsistent. Calais Campbell is the team’s best player and one of the best defensive linemen in the game, and Williams provides more value to the team due to his consistency in run defense and ability to free up others. And since the Cards could use another top skill position player, it’s clear that they needed to make some savings somewhere; cutting Dockett was an easy way to achieve this.

With a cap hit of $6.8 million on $6.55 million owed in 2015, Dockett simply couldn’t be retained, no matter how much fans like him or how good he is at using Twitter. He’s a good player who is capable of some truly jaw-dropping plays, but he also missed the entire 2014 season and offers nothing in run defense.

CBS Sports’s Jason La Canfora reports that the Cardinals are unsurprisingly interested in bringing Dockett back “once he sees what his market is”, and the fact that La Canfora uses “once” shows just how confident the Cards are that Dockett will realize he isn’t worth nearly as much as he thinks he is. I mean, if he wasn’t willing to restructure from a $6.8 million cap charge, then he must think he has an incredibly robust market.

Dockett will be 34 when the season starts, so that’s unlikely, no matter how disruptive he can be in the passing game when he’s at his best. It makes plenty of sense for the Arizona Cardinals to want the franchise icon back on the field and in the locker room, especially since Williams could leave the DL this season, forcing them to add a rookie at the nose. That rookie could prove to be a good player down the road, but it always helps to have a talented veteran like Dockett around if possible.

Dec 8, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett against the St. Louis Rams at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

We’ll see exactly what the future holds for Dockett when he hits the open market, but this release deserves a bit of an asterisk, since I have a feeling Dockett would also be willing to re-sign with Arizona if the market is as cold to him as many expect.

I believe he’ll end up retiring as a member of the organization, but it only takes one team to value him highly as a veteran, pass-rushing 3-4 DE.

The bottom line is that the Cardinals had to make this move, since they can’t afford to lose nearly $10 million against the cap on a player whom they didn’t even need last season. They could definitely use him next year but, of course, not at a $6.8 million charge.

We’ll see if he ends up back with the Cardinals after this release, and, if he does, the Cardinals should have more money to spend on, perhaps. If he’s gone, then they can spend the money on a couple of key free agents, including a possible replacement DE partner for the elite Campbell.

Next: Should the Cardinals go after AP?

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