Cardinals GM Talks Big Free Agent Signings

Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort met with reporters at the NFL Owners Meetings, and came away very impressed with his team's free agency haul.

The largest name was pass rusher Josh Sweat, where the Cardinals upgraded arguably their biggest need on the roster. Arizona fans were hoping Ossenfort would use some of the $70 million he had in cap space to land a top name, and the Cardinals did just that.

"It gives you opportunity and provides flexibility," Ossenfort said (h/t Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com). "Should you want to go after a guy like Josh Sweat, it gives you the ability to do that.

"I also believe that just because you have the room it doesn't mean you have to go crazy to use the room. You want to be resourceful with it, you want to be intentional, and you've got to make the right decisions, because if you don't, it doesn't just hamper this year but it can do it for subsequent teams as well. But we still have room."

Sweat was inked to a four-year, $76 million deal to open free agency, though Arizona quickly fell quiet and opted to re-sign some of their own players.

Some time passed, and many though the Cardinals were content with just Sweat headlining the group before Arizona signed defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson to a two-year, $29 million deal to completely overhaul their front seven's firepower.

"There were a number of players we wanted to go in and sign, and 31 other teams can go after those players too and the players have a choice and it's a negotiation," Ossenfort said.

"Sometimes you get the players you want, sometimes you have to pivot. It so happened that Dalvin was someone we had earmarked that could be released, but you can never bank on that.

"When that happened, I've been a long-time admirer of Dalvin and his game. When he came available it was a great fit."

The Cardinals still have $40.2 million in effective cap space according to OverTheCap, fourth-most in the NFL.