Where Will Cardinals OL Land in Free Agency?

Former Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Will Hernandez is still on the free agent market with summer around the corner. It's not the biggest surprise in the world when you consider the circumstances, but he's still a starting-caliber player for a chunk of teams.

Hernandez is coming off a season-ending knee injury that limited him to just five games last season. He also missed four games in 2022 and was placed on injured reserve that season, as well. To his credit he played and started all 17 games in 2023, but there are some injury concerns as of late.

The veteran also turns 30-years-old at the start of the season, so most teams are likely willing to roll with what they currently have.

But if I could make a pitch for Hernandez to sign somewhere, I would feel the best about my chances with these three teams.

I believe the following three franchises would benefit from Hernandez's addition and could even find a starting role for him.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens play their best football when they run the football and that requires good guard play. The team is shuffling around Daniel Faalele, Ben Cleveland, and Andrew Vorhees trying to find a winning combo, but they could really use a veteran in the room with each of those players 26-years-old or younger.

Hernandez is well-seasoned with 91 starts under his belt. Faalele, Cleveland, and Vorhees have started 28 games combined and Faalele started 17 games last season alone as a full-time starter with mixed results.

It's not as though the current group can't get it done, but I believe Baltimore would greatly benefit with a veteran like Hernandez in the room.

Detroit Lions

The Lions have a great offensive tackle duo and a stud center in Frank Ragnow when healthy, but their guard play is far from ideal. The team did draft Georgia's Tate Ratledge in the second-round of this year's draft to try and solve the issue, but that's asking a lot for anyone to step in and play at a high-level from day one for a championship-caliber team

The rest of the room isn't much better, either.

Detroit rolled the dice on a veteran last offseason in Kevin Zeitler and got good results. They could do the same this year with Hernandez and see if they can replicate the success. For a team in "win-now" mode, Hernandez makes perfect sense.

Houston Texans

The Texans are rolling into the summer with a 33-year-old journeyman in Laken Tomlinson and third-year man Juice Scruggs as the likely starters with next to no depth behind them. Hernandez can start over either of them and be an immediate upgrade.

The entirety of the offensive line is a mess right now and any depth let alone upgrades are desperately needed. What "strategy" the team is currently trying for the offensive line shouldn't be counted on for success. That means bringing in as much competition as possible for this unit.

Beggars can't be choosers, but at least Hernandez is a reasonable starter. Houston should absolutely kick the tires on him.