What's Next for Cardinals After Season-Ending CB Injury?

The Arizona Cardinals' cornerback room took another hit ahead of the 2025 season when ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Starling Thomas' injury suffered during Friday's practice was in fact a torn ACL, which would see him miss the entire 2025 season.

Thomas, a third-year cornerback who came into the league as an undrafted free agent, was a pleasant surprise by the Cardinals over the last two seasons, as he showed steady improvement in his 22 starts during that time.

After Sean Murphy-Bunting was placed on the NFI list, Thomas was highly seen as a candidate who could again start for Arizona ahead of 2025.

Now, the Cardinals will be forced to evaluate different avenues.

Where Do Cardinals Go After Starling Thomas Injury?

Entering 2025, the Cardinals' cornerback room was considered to be one of their deepest position groups.

Two injuries later, and the depth has taken a hit - at least at the top.

After Murphy-Bunting's season was over, it became a three-man competition for the two starting boundary jobs with Garrett Williams firmly entrenched as the starting slot cornerback with Will Johnson and Max Melton also vying for those spots.

The Cardinals just lost a potential starting cornerback - and at worst a top rotational guy with plenty of starting experience in Nick Rallis' defense.

How head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort navigate the cornerback room moving forward will be interesting.

Not including projected starters in Johnson/Melton, Arizona's sunk heavy draft capital into the position over the last few years, as all of Kei'Trel Clark, Elijah Jones, Denzel Burke and Jaden Davis were selected under the Gannon/Ossenfort tenure.

That's still a fairly deep room in terms of names and potential, but are the Cardinals comfortable and confident in those depth pieces?

"We're constantly looking at, this time of year, it's players that are still free agents, players that may get let go by other teams. In a few weeks here, our staff, we'll all turn our attention to the preseason games. You're at the mercy of what's available, what's out there, and so I think that's a constant, what we're always trying to do," Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort told reporters on Friday after practice.

"That also includes every day evaluating our team. It's a competitive business. It's competitive to make this team, to make the roster, and our players understand that. Our coaches understand that, and so it's just one of those things that whenever there's a chance to upgrade something that we want to go out and do, we certainly will do that."

The Cardinals could very well be comfortable with banking on one of their younger guys to step up in their development, though outside help could be on the way.

Arizona hasn't been shy about cornerback workouts this offseason, and with $35.4 million in cap space, the Cardinals certainly have the ammo to bring in virtually anybody they see fit.

So - where do the Cardinals go?

It's likely they add a body for the sake of depth and competition - though Arizona likely will bank on their continued method of development and rely on their homegrown guys to make the next step.