Cardinals OL Named Trade Candidate

The Arizona Cardinals march into free agency with $74.5 million in effective cap space according to OverTheCap, good enough for third in the NFL.

They've got plenty of spending power to work with moving forward, though for a team entering its third year rebuilding under general manager Monti Ossenfort, more cap space will always be welcome.

The Cardinals don't have many true trade candidates thanks to their massive overhaul of the roster over the last two years, though a good chunk of money can be cleared with dealing starting right tackle Jonah Williams.

Spotrac's Michael Ginnitti with why the move makes sense:

Why Trading Jonah Williams Makes Sense for Cardinals

"Williams battled multiple knee injuries in 2024 and likely still isn’t 100% heading toward the 2025 league year. With that said, he’s an experienced book-end tackle that could be seen as a strong “fill-in” per his 1 year, $12.8M remaining contract. Arizona has a continued need to bolster their offensive line with this upcoming draft," wrote Ginnitti.

Williams inked a two-year, $30 million contract with Arizona last offseason and landed on injured reserve twice through the 2024 season.

The Cardinals could save $10 million in cap space by cutting Williams post-June 1, which would be a similar move to what they did with D.J. Humphries last offseason. This would give them $84.5 million in cap space.

Arizona doesn't have a strong contingency plan behind Williams, as his primary backup in Kelvin Beachum is mulling retirement and 2024 rookie Christian Jones didn't really see the field.

Does trading Williams make sense? The Cardinals' need for a right tackle would immediately jump this offseason, and with other pressing needs at spots such as edge rusher and defensive line, Arizona would likely opt to spend resources in free agency or the draft elsewhere.

Even if Williams stays, an offensive tackle would still be a possibility early in the draft, however.

When speaking with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine, Ossenfort offered the following on Williams:

"Jonah is working hard. Jonah is working extremely hard as he did this season. I think a little bit of what is underrated about what Jonah did this season is how he was able to work himself back," said Ossenfort.

"It would have been really easy for Jonah to just say, 'Hey, I'm going to sit back and let this heal up.' For him to come back and play and play at a pretty high level when he came back [was great]. Really not going to get into specifics on his injury, but he is progressing well, and looking forward to having him back next year."