In the midst of their longest season-opening unbeaten run since 1974, the Arizona Cardinals added a piece to their skill-position corps by acquiring Zach Ertz from the Eagles. On Thursday, they created some financial breathing room after adding Ertz’s salary.
The Cardinals restructured Jordan Phillips‘ contract, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates, who notes the team converted $6.5M of the defensive lineman’s base salary into a signing bonus. Arizona dipped into the void-years well here, adding two to a contract that already ran through 2022. All told, the Cards created $5.21M in cap space.
Ertz is due more than $4M in base salary the rest of the way. He joins a Cardinals team that has perennially struggled to generate production from its tight end position and one that recently lost Maxx Williams for the season. Between Ertz, DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green, Arizona’s pass-catching contingent now has 15 combined Pro Bowl nods.
The Cards gave Phillips a three-year, $30M deal in 2020. As a result of Thursday’s restructure, that contract will become more difficult to shed in 2022.
Phillips, 29, returned to the field Sunday after nearly a year away. After recovering from a back injury that had sidelined him for the season’s first five games, the veteran interior D-lineman played 21 defensive snaps in his first game back and came off the bench in the Cardinals' 37-14 win in Cleveland.
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