Following Patrick Peterson‘s defection to the Vikings, Marco Wilson became an immediate Cardinals starter.
He remained a first-stringer entering this season, and the Cardinals were counting on him after the Vikes also lured Byron Murphy from the desert in March. In a new scheme, Wilson’s stock dropped.
Wilson has not played a defensive snap since Week 11, with the Cards relegating the third-year cornerback to special teams duty. They officially moved on from the former fourth-round pick Tuesday, sending him to waivers.
Barely $110K remains on Wilson’s 2023 salary; while his rookie contract runs through 2024, no guaranteed money remains on the deal.
Vance Joseph immediately installed the Florida alum as a starter in 2021, pairing him with Murphy as Arizona’s top corners over the previous two seasons. Wilson started in Week 1 of his rookie year and has made 37 starts over the course of his career.
That run came to a halt last month. Wilson has allowed 702 yards in coverage this season, per ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss; that is 300-plus more than any other Cardinal corner has ceded this year. Despite Wilson not playing defense since Week 11, that yardage number still ranks fourth in the NFL.
Wilson’s quick ascent under Joseph notwithstanding, he has rated outside Pro Football Focus’ top 100 at corner in each of his three seasons. The advanced metrics site slots the 6-foot cover man as the third-worst CB regular this year. Wilson logged 83% and 85% snap rates for the Cardinals in 2021 and ’22, respectively, working as a starter in the team’s wild-card loss to the Rams as a rookie.
Wilson still leads Cardinals corners in defensive snaps (694). That total tops Antonio Hamilton‘s snap figure by more than 200. The Cardinals have also used Starling Thomas V as a starter in recent weeks, with third-round rookie Garrett Williams manning the slot.
Hamilton was with the team last season, but the Jonathan Gannon–Monti Ossenfort regime has mostly turned the page from the Joseph-era corners. Arizona, which is finishing up a rebuilding year, has not allocated much in the way of resources to corner in recent years.
Peterson started for 10 seasons in the desert, crafting a Hall of Fame-caliber resume, while Murphy was in place for four. The Cards will enter the 2024 offseason with many needs; cornerback remains one of them.
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