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Cardinals Urged to Sign $16.4 Million Rival As Kyzir White Replacement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By John Vaccaro | Last updated Feb 24, 2025 8:32 PM ET

The Arizona Cardinals have a lot to address on the defensive side of the ball this offseason.

They weren't particularly good against the run or the pass during the 2024 season.

This past season they allowed the league's ninth-most yards per pass attempt and eighth-most yards per rush attempt.

To make matters worse for the run defense, linebacker Kyzir White, who was one of the team's captains in 2024, is heading for free agency this offseason.

If he does end up leaving the team, the Cardinals will have a major need at inside linebacker and will have to take a hard look at their free agent options at that spot.

One of the top options they could go after has spent his whole career with one of their biggest rivals and he is also somebody they are being urged to go after.

In a Touchdown Wire article identifying a free agent each NFL team should want to sign this offseason, Cards Wire's Jess Root named San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw as the free agent the Cardinals should go after.

This feels like it would be a pretty big gamble for the Cardinals.

Yes, Greenlaw has been productive in the past. He made 127 total tackles in 2022 and 120 total tackles in 2023. However, he missed 6.6% of his attempted tackles in 2022 and 9.1% in 2023.

For comparison, White missed 5.5% of his attempted tackles this past season.

Greenlaw has also only played in two games since tearing his Achilles in the Super Bowl at the end of the 2023 season.

Achilles injuries are notoriously difficult for NFL players to bounce back from, making it difficult to know what to expect from Greenlaw going forward.

The linebacker position doesn't exactly have a robust market of available free agents this offseason, which could make taking a chance on Greenlaw more appealing.

However, the Cardinals would need to add some kind of insurance behind him, get a really good deal on his contract, and throw money around elsewhere for a Greenlaw signing to make sense.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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