Cardinals To Consider Free Agent Wideouts

The Cardinals will examine the free agent market in search of a wide receiver, head coach Bruce Arians told reporters, including Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (Twitter links).

Arians is not pleased with Arizona’s wide receiver depth chart, per Urban — while Arians believed this spring that every Cardinals pass-catcher had the talent to play in the NFL, he now thinks the club “might have two” wideouts ready for immediate time. While that’s probably some typical Arians sarcasm, it’s true that Arizona doesn’t have much depth among its wide receiving corps.

Heading into the offseason, I listed wide receiver among the Cardinals’ top three areas of need, but the only addition the team made at the position was third-round draft pick Chad Williams, who will attempt to make the leap from Grambling State to the NFL. Larry Fitzgerald still has talent to offer even at his advanced age, but John Brown, J.J. Nelson, Jaron Brown, and the rest of Arizona’s wideouts have been plagued by injuries or ineffectiveness.

None of the Cardinals’ receivers ranked among the top 60 in DVOA a season ago, and the club’s passing offense finished 27th in DVOA as a whole, so adding a free agent isn’t the worst idea. Picking over the free agent market in August isn’t ideal, however, and the available options at wideout are particularly limited. Vincent Jackson, Stevie Johnson, and Eddie Royal are among the veterans that remain unsigned, while Arizona could also take a chance on a younger player such as Dorial Green-Beckham, who’s been ineffective through two NFL stops.