Retaining Antonio Cromartie Should Be a Priority for the Arizona Cardinals
By Sean Tomlinson, NFC West Lead Writer Jan 22, 2015
During his first two seasons as general manager of the
Arizona Cardinals, Steve Keim has had at least one moment when he treats free agency like a yard sale.
He bypasses the rarely used exercise bikes of free agency and heads straight to some decaying old couch complete with cushion rips and various pizza stains. He buys it for barely more than zero dollars, then a week later the same couch has been given a magical face lift and is the centerpiece of a living room.
During Keim’s first swing at free agency in 2013 his bargain veteran gem was Karlos Dansby. The middle linebacker was paid only $2.25 million on a one-year deal and then recorded 6.5 sacks along with four interceptions and 19 passes defensed.
Then in 2014 he cleared the fences again while digging through discarded and unwanted items. Keim gave
Antonio Cromartie only $3.5 million on a one-year contract, and the cornerback produced one of his best seasons.
Now in free agency he needs to have one priority: bringing Cromartie back.
Cromartie is a pending free agent and was part of a secondary that faced 579 pass attempts in 2014, the league’s seventh-highest total. That high volume was a product of opposing offenses doing a collective shoulder shrug after being unable to run against Arizona for most of the season.
Going airborne was the only other option to move the ball, and eventually when faced with a repeated bombardment even the league’s best cornerbacks could be exposed.
Cromartie was on the field for 594 snaps in coverage, according to
Pro Football Focus. That was the 10th-highest total among all cornerbacks, and yet the 30-year-old didn’t wither away. No, he did quite the opposite, and the shine on his 2014 season is pretty bright when put alongside some of the league’s best at the position.
Top 2014 coverage snaps per reception
Cornerback Rank-Snaps-Coverage snaps/reception
Richard Sherman 1 552 17.8
Vontae Davis 2 479 15.5
Darrelle Revis 3 606 14.8
Josh Norman 4 379 14.0
Chris Harris Jr. 5 623 13.5
Antonio Cromartie 10 594 12.4
Source: Pro Football Focus
In football years Cromartie is getting closer to old and further away from young while set to blow out 31 candles in April. This offseason is likely his final chance to cash in with something in the neighborhood of market value for his services. Cromartie could justifiably seek a contract in the Brent Grimes range.
The
Miami Dolphins cornerback provides a perfect barometer forCromartie’s value. He’s a year older (he’ll turn 32 in July), and likeCromartie he had to accept a bargain one-year contract after tearing his Achilles in 2012. The shark-infested free-agency pool generally isn’t kind to gimpy cornerbacks.
Then after he excelled in 2013 with 17 passes defensed and four interceptions, Grimes was handed a juicy extension with $16 million in guaranteed money and an average annual base salary of $8 million, all per
Spotrac.
Read much more:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...hould-be-a-priority-for-the-arizona-cardinals
