Cardinals Cornerstone Named Extension Candidate

With an offseason completely full of scintillating free agent acquisitions and NFL Draft picks, the Arizona Cardinals have been mostly focused on thee defensive side of the football, particularly the defensive line and secondary.

But Arizona does have some significant talent offensively, and could look to extend one of their franchise cornerstones soon.

CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan listed one extension candidate from each NFL team.

For the Cardinals, he noted standout young OL Paris Johnson Jr. as the likely next man to be extended in the desert.

"The Cardinals will be able to extend Johnson in 2026. The former No. 6 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft has started all 31 of his career games played over his first two seasons, including 14 last season as Arizona's blindside tackle. According to PFF's metrics, Johnson graded as the No. 12 overall tackle in the NFL and was inside the top 30 as both a pass and run blocker. That'll result in a chunk of money coming his way, provided he keeps it up in 2025," Sullivan wrote.

Johnson, 23, posted a stellar 80.8 PFF grade for his heroics in the 2024 season — the first season serving as Arizona's primary left tackle for the duration of the year. Though he did suffer an injury that held him out of the final three games of the season, the Ohio State product looked excellent in his second year, allowing four sacks and just seven penalties over 14 games.

And there's still room for Johnson to improve. He already boasts a solid arsenal of both run- and pass-blocking technique, and is the right amount of physical against even some of the more intimidating defensive linemen in the NFL.

The former first-round pick has already begun to pay dividends, and served as a critical member of one of the Cardinals' most consistently productive units. Arizona will likely want Johnson's services employed in the desert for years to come.