Cardinals
The issue now is finding an insurance policy for Alford, 32, and searching for depth behind Butler, 31 and Murphy, 23. The only cornerback depth currently on the roster is Jace Whittaker, who appeared in four games last season as a rookie, and Picasso Nelson, who has no NFL experience.
There’s room – and a need – to add at least three more cornerbacks not only for competitive purposes in advance of offseason team workouts and training camp, but to improve the position overall heading into the 2021 season and beyond.
That means signing another cornerback or two in free agency and selecting at least one in next month’s NFL draft.
Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim said as much earlier this week during a video conference call with Arizona reporters.
“Every team has holes and one thing you don’t want to do is panic and do things that put you in a tough situation from a cap standpoint,” Keim said when asked directly about the team’s situation at cornerback. “So, we’ll continue to monitor the market. There are different avenues we can make whether it’s free agency, trade options or even the NFL draft.”
On Thursday, in addition to agreeing to terms with Butler, the Cardinals added to their draft capital this year when they also announced they have traded center Mason Cole to the Vikings in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round pick.
The deal becomes official pending Cole, Arizona’s third-round pick in 2018, passing a physical with the Vikings.
The Cardinals didn’t have a sixthround pick this year, having flipped it to the Giants last year in exchange for outside linebacker Markus Golden, whom they recently re-signed to a two-year contract.
In other news, the team also announced it has agreed to terms with tight end Darrell Daniels and safety Charles Washington on one-year contracts.
Daniels, 26, is back after appearing in 25 games with the Cardinals over the past three seasons.
Washington, 28, played in 27 games the past two seasons with Arizona and had a career-high 13 tackles on special teams in 2020.
Most NFL mock drafts have been projecting the Cardinals will use their firstround pick on a cornerback. The addition of Butler, a seven-year pro who spent the past three seasons with the Titans and set a career high with 100 tackles in 2020 along with four interceptions, doesn’t necessarily mean Arizona won’t target a cornerback with one of their first two picks.
The Cardinals own the No.16 overall pick in the first round and the No.49 overall pick in the second. They presently don’t have a pick in the third or fourth rounds because of the trades that brought them center Rodney Hudson and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, respectively.
But with Butler and Alford only under contract for only one season, the Cardinals must prepare for the future and try to find their next version of Peterson, an eight-time Pro Bowl performer. If the Cardinals use their first-round pick this year to find Peterson’s replacement, it could be South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn, a popular choice to go to Arizona in many mock drafts.
Patrick Surtain II of Alabama and Caleb Farley of Virginia Tech are viewed by most scouts as the top-rated cornerback prospects in this year’s draft and there’s a good chance they both could be gone by the time the Cardinals pick at 16.
That would be fine with Horn, who told reporters before his Pro Day workout on Wednesday that he’s been a big fan of the Cardinals and especially enjoyed watching their secondary when Peterson was playing alongside Tyrann Mathieu and Jerraud Powers.
“I feel like I fit in well and it would be a blessing to go play in Arizona,” Horn, the son of former Falcons and Saints wide receiver Joe Horn, said.
Northwestern’s Greg Newsome II, Kentucky’s Kelvin Joseph Central Florida’s Aaron Robinson and Florida State's Asante Samuel Jr. are other cornerbacks the Cardinals could consider.
In the meantime, all eyes will be on Butler (5-11, 190), who entered the NFL with the Patriots in 2014 as an undrafted rookie free agent out of West Alabama. In his rookie season with New England, Butler made one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history when in Super Bowl XLIX at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, he intercepted Russell Wilson’s pass at the goal line with under a minute to play that clinched the Patriots’ championship victory over the Seahawks.
Butler, who made the Pro Bowl in 2015 and 2016, was the only player in the NFL last season with 100 or more tackles and at least four interceptions.
He is one of just three players with multiple interceptions in each of the past six seasons, joining Janoris Jenkins and Marcus Peters.
Butler has appeared in 100 games (84 starts) and has 17 interceptions, 390 tackles, 84 passes defensed, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
He has also appeared in 12 playoff games in which he has collected 42 tackles, 10 passes defensed and two interceptions.