Who Should Cardinals Target on CB Market?

The Arizona Cardinals' secondary will be tested often in 2025.

The list of quarterbacks on deck for the team to play is amongst the most difficult imaginable, including Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield, Jordan Love, and Matthew Stafford twice.

It’s a challenge that may overwhelm a young group of cornerbacks no matter how talented they are. But of course, it’s a room to be excited about breakout stud Garrett Williams, potential superstar Will Johnson, and several other guys who could be starters on other teams.

The one thing this room doesn’t have at the moment is a solidified veteran. Sean Murphy-Bunting will miss the season, and he was the Cardinals' only true veteran on the boundary.

The question becomes: Should Arizona consider adding another corner to the room?

Pickings are slim following the 2025 NFL Draft, but a small handful of players are still available to add and make a difference… There may even be a few available via trade.

Eli Apple

Everyone’s (least) favorite corner in the NFL may be able to find his way to the desert and provide a veteran presence in the secondary. The loss of Murphy-Bunting presents exactly that need for a guy on the back end with plenty of experience to teach the youth.

Apple isn’t a popular name among fans because of a mouth that talks larger and louder than Richard Sherman, but without the play to back it up. You wouldn’t be asking him to be anything more than a veteran presence and a rotational piece for the secondary.

Minimizing his role is the key to making signing Apple worth it.

Asante Samuel Jr.

The Cardinals have already brought in Samuel once during free agency, and there could be some mutual interest between the two. Samuel is also by far the youngest notable corner left on the market.

So, if Arizona wants to maintain a youthful secondary, then this could be the move.

Samuel is a lot like his father when it comes to ball hawk skills, and his tendency to force turnovers is what the back end of this defense could really use. There are some technical flaws to his game, especially tackling, but that’s something that can easily be coached with this staff.

Jaire Alexander

Is the time finally here for Alexander to leave Green Bay and find his new team? We’ve been hearing rumblings of a trade all offseason and even with the draft coming and going, he may still be available.

Adding Alexander would be an indication this front office is all-in for this season. That’s not as much to say that he is the piece that put your defense over the top, but he could be the piece that rounds out the secondary.

Alexander is a veteran, a superstar, and everything else that you’re looking for on the boundary. The Cardinals can afford to extend him as well to make him a long-term fixture for this defense.