The Arizona Cardinals have gone out and spent a bit of money on the defensive line. They added Bilal Nichols on a three-year, $21 million deal and inked Justin Jones to a three-year contract worth more than $30 million.
Both have been durable and reliable players. Neither has been super productive, although Jones had a breakout year in terms of pass rushing, getting 4.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 17 quarterback hits in 2023.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon is excited for the duo. He sounds like a guy who believes they will get more from them than what they have done prior to this year.
“They can both rush, they can both play the run in multiple modes of run defense,” Gannon said at the annual league meeting in Orlando this past week (via AZCardinals.com). “They are both pretty durable, which you never know how that’s going to go but they have proven they can play a lot of snaps. The makeup of the players – we did a lot of homework on those guys, to bring them in. Glowing reviews about those guys. And when you watch the tape, you have a vision for those guys.”
Their additions along with Khyiris Tonga, the re-signing of L.J. Collier and the hopeful continued development of Dante Stills, who had 3.5 sacks as a rookie, give hope for a defensive line that was both bad and ravaged by injuries.
At the very minimum, it should no longer be a liability in 2024.
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