The right side of the Cardinals’ offensive line will feature multiple backups going forward. With Jonah Williams‘ return timetable murky, the team will absorb another blow via Will Hernandez‘s Sunday injury.
Hernandez is believed to have sustained a season-ending malady, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. The former Giants second-round pick left the 49ers matchup with a knee injury, and it looks likely it will sideline him until the 2025 campaign.
This is a tough blow for Hernandez, who is in a contract year. Despite Hernandez arriving during the Steve Keim-Kliff Kingsbury regime’s final year, he became a priority for the Monti Ossenfort-Jonathan Gannon duo. Hernandez re-signed on a two-year, $9MM deal in 2023. Seeing as he had established himself as a starting-caliber guard, a nice raise was likely in the cards — be it from the Cardinals or another team in free agency — but this injury could nix that prospect.
Pro Football Focus rated Hernandez as the No. 20 overall guard through five games, as he has helped clear paths for the resilient James Conner. With the team cutting D.J. Humphries this offseason, Hernandez is the Cardinals’ longest-tenured O-line starter. Though, Kelvin Beachum — displaced as a starter once the team drafted Paris Johnson Jr. in 2023 — has been with the team longer. Beachum, a Cardinal since 2020, has been thrust back into a starting role due to Williams’ injury. Williams has a chance to return this season, but it is not certain the former first-rounder will be able to do so.
Not seeing his 17-start 2021 contract year generate much free agency interest, Hernandez caught on with the Cardinals on a one-year deal worth just $1.19MM. He started 13 games for a disappointing 2022 team, missing time with an injury, but bounced back to play in 17 contests last season. Going down early may well force the 29-year-old blocker into another “prove it” deal at a bad time. Hernandez is running short on time to capitalize on his prime years, and while a $4.5MM-per-year is nothing to sneeze at, this injury could hijack his route toward eight-figure-per-year money.
It is not known if this is an ACL tear, but the Cardinals will need a new plan. Trystan Colon replaced Hernandez in San Francisco, doing so as third-round rookie Isaiah Adams missed the game with a thumb injury. Adams’ draft status figures to make him an option to fill in soon, but Colon was the next man up initially. Adams has played just six offensive snaps this season. Colon played 315 snaps for the Cards at left guard last season. UFA addition Evan Brown mans that spot this year.