Cardinals 'Most Dangerous' Roster Addition Revealed

The Arizona Cardinals' rebuild is, in all tangible senses, complete after an intense offseason saw GM Monti Ossenfort target multiple big-time contributors with the hopes of revamping Arizona's defense into a team strength.

Through both free agency and the 2025 NFL draft, the Cardinals focused primarily on both the edge and interior DL, and the additions made have entirely changed the complexion of one of their previously weakest position groups.

Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski noted each NFL team's most dangerous offseason addition. By his definition, "dangerous" encapsulates players with exceptionally high potential, but also with unignorable downsides.

For the Cardinals, it was first-round DL Walter Nolen III.

Sobleski explained his reasoning:

"The Arizona Cardinals knew they had to get better along the defensive line. They did.

"In free agency, Arizona signed Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell. The Cardinals then sunk this year's 16th overall pick in Ole Miss' Walter Nolen. Nolen presented nearly as much upside as anyone not named Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter in this year's draft class.

"Disruption, disruption,' Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters. '... When we find players that can affect the middle of the pocket, it puts a lot of stress on the offense. Walter is another guy that we think can help us do that.'

"Every team is searching for defensive tackles who can reset the line of scrimmage, secure tackles for loss and collapse the pocket. Nolen has these traits. He's also erratic and can be pushed around at times. Even so, he's the skeleton key to unlock what the Cardinals are trying to do up front."

Admittedly, Nolen is anything but a slam-dunk pick, but the raw talent is undeniable. Nolen is a physical specimen with a high motor, and produced well his final season of college football, but he also only managed one noteworthy statistical year, and some questions have been raised about his work ethic and dedication.

Nolen addressed those questions himself, and it seems like a safe bet that those concerns will find themselves without merit, since Ossenfort was confident enough to select Nolen at 16 overall.

Nolen recorded 6.5 sacks, 14 TFLs and 48 total tackles in his final year at Ole Miss. There is certainly risk at play (as with most, if not all first-round prospects), but Nolen will have a crossroads ahead of him: will he soar above his projections, or struggle to live up to his draft position?

Only time can tell.