5 biggest losers of NFL free agency

3. Arizona Cardinals

The NFC West arms race seems to only be playing out between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. For the Arizona Cardinals, free agency has proven to be more about attrition than addition, to the point that it’s hard to even imagine what the team’s on-field product is going to look like following the retirements of quarterback Carson Palmer and head coach Bruce Arians.

The latter’s job has fallen to Steve Wilks, former defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers. But Wilks’ fingerprints on the defense have yet to produce any major free agency signings; instead, it’s mostly been marked by the release of defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, who has since caught on with the Houston Texans.

The former’s duties, meanwhile, seem to belong to Sam Bradford, whom the Cardinals signed to a one-year, $20 million deal. The Cardinals also committed another $8 million over two years to presumed backup Mike Glennon; however, Bradford’s injury history means Glennon should be ready to take the field at any time. The problem? The last time he did so, in four games for the Chicago Bears in 2017, he threw just four touchdown passes to five interceptions while taking eight sacks.

The Cardinals also lost a pair of receivers—John Brown and Jaron Brown—and beyond their questionable quarterback signings have done little else. That’s not the best way to play catch-up in a division that’s quickly becoming one of the league’s most formidable.