Getty The Cardinals can replace A.J. Green or Christian Kirk with a free agent from the Dolphins.
A.J. Green and Christian Kirk are both pending free agents, while Andy Isabella has been made available for trade. The Arizona Cardinals have room to add at least one new wide receiver this offseason.
A newcomer could arrive from the Miami Dolphins in free agency. That’s the idea posited by one NFL analyst, who wanted the Cards to sign this wideout a year ago.
The player in question used to play alongside Cards’ star DeAndre Hopkins and is deemed an excellent choice if both Green and Kirk find teams on the veteran market.
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Dolphins’ Deep Threat Worth Revisiting
Will Fuller could reunite with Hopkins if the Cardinals make their move, something Matt Harmon of Yahoo Fantasy Sports has wanted to see happen for a year:
I really wanted to pair Will Fuller with the Cardinals during last year’s free agency. Why not run it back as the post-hype move when he’s cheaper here in 2022? Arizona could lose both Kirk and Green in free agency, so WR is a huge hole.
Harmon’s argument makes sense considering Fuller is available again after a disappointing season in Miami. The 27-year-old appeared in only two games due to a broken finger, as well as chest and elbow injuries.
Fuller also missed the opening game of last season while he finished serving a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. That suspension dated back to 2020, Fuller’s final year with the Texans.
The previous four seasons saw Fuller paired with Hopkins. During that span, Hopkins went over 1,000 yards three times.
While Hopkins was the no. 1 threat defenses had to plan to stop, opponents couldn’t ignore Fuller’s ability to stretch the field. He averaged 15.7 yards per reception in 2018 and 16.6 per grab two years later.
Fuller has rarely been able to stay healthy and has struggled with drops, but he’s always been able to stretch the field as well as the game’s top wideouts, per Next Gen Stats:
Since the start of last season, @HoustonTexans Will Fuller is tied for the 6th-most receiving touchdowns of 20+ air yards in the NFL (6).
Only Robby Anderson (10), Tyreek Hill (8), Tyrell Williams (7) and DeAndre Hopkins (7) have more deep TDs in that span.
The Cardinals were hoping to get this same level of deep threat from Green last season, but things didn’t quite work out as planned.
Green Didn’t Deliver
Signing Green to a one-year deal looked like one of the smarter moves any team made last season. It should have given Hopkins the perfect running mate.
Instead, 33-year-old Green showed his age and struggled to gain separation consistently. He made just 54 catches and scored a mere three touchdowns.
What Green couldn’t do was pick up the slack once Hopkins missed seven games because of a knee injury. Numbers from Arizona Sports 98.7 FM showed where Green was lacking: “In the six games Green was active for while Hopkins was out, the wide receiver caught 17 of his 38 targets (44.7% catch rate) for 276 yards.”
Re-upping Green wouldn’t be as smart as offering a single-season, prove-it deal to Fuller, who is six years younger. It would also make financial sense because bringing Kirk back also looks tough since the four-year pro might get paid in “the $12 million-per-year range,” according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Kirk and Green aren’t the only Cardinals receivers who could be leaving this month. CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reported Isabella, the team’s second-round pick just two years ago, has permission to seek a trade, according to his agent:
I just spoke to #Cardinals WR Andy Isabella’s agent Bradley Blank just now and he tells me that his client has been given permission to seek a trade. Blank told me on the phone that he’s planning to actively reach out to teams in the middle of March around free agency.
Giving Fuller another chance to prove himself makes sense. Especially alongside Hopkins, who has traditionally brought out the best in a talented but erratic receiver who would suit head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s vertical offense.