Cardinals Need to Re-Sign Underrated Special Teamer

The Arizona Cardinals move into the offseason hoping for answers on their free agency class, and as our stay-or-go series on their pending free agents continues, the Cardinals should be wise in their approach to bring back a key part of their special teams.

If you missed any of our previous players in Jonah Williams, Jalen Thompson, Justin Jones, Calais Campbell, Kelvin Beachum, Greg Dortch, L.J. Collier or Zay Jones, you can click on their respective names.

The Cardinals' special teams unit was mostly forgettable in 2025, which was partly due to punter Blake Gillikin's back injury.

Gillikin, when healthy, is one of the better punters in the league, and his leg was sorely missed for Arizona's previous advantage in terms of field position. Gillikin averaged a whopping 51.7 yards per punt in just five games played, which would have led the NFL if he continued that through the entire season.

Gillikin, who just turned 28, still has plenty of gas left in the tank — and there's a reason our own Kyler Burd placed him on his top five Cardinals free agents to bring back list:

"2025 was the third year with the Cardinals for the 28-year old punter and the last of a 2-year, $3.7 million deal. With relatively cheap deals, it makes sense for teams to keep around good specialists when they find them. He is still young and as long as he is fully ready to go for the upcoming season, it is an easy choice to bring Gillikin back," wrote Burd.

You can check out the full list here.

The Cardinals fired special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers and hired Michael Ghobrial, so there's bound to be some sort of change on the roster moving into 2026.

However, Gillikin is clearly a talented specialist when healthy. He previously earned base salaries of $1.3 and $1.8 million in his last two seasons. A new contract in that ballpark should be more than justifiable considering his worth and Arizona's obvious drop-off in special teams play.

"The enthusiasm he brings is infectious, which is critical for all coaches but especially on special teams. As a team, we will definitely benefit from his energy and experience," Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said on Ghobrial.

They'd be wise to bring Gillikin back.