The NFL free agency period starts tomorrow with the tampering period open March 9-11, and the all contracts become official on March 12, which is the beginning of the NFL new year.
Both the Saturday and Sunday before free agency begins are usually very busy with announced trades, plus restructuring existing contracts aimed at allowing the franchise more cap room.
Advertisement
RELATED: CONNER AGREES TO CONTRACT RESTRUCTURE
In addition to the franchise restructuring of Conner’s deal, the team also restructured the contract of CB Sean Murphy-Bunting, plus re-signed kicker Chad Ryland.
A lot of trades are formulated at the Combine, and then ironed out before free agency actually begins. Every NFL GM is in Indianapolis, home of the Combine, so they are able to throw out ideas and scenarios regarding players. Some trades actually happen at the Combine and announced, while others are started and agreed upon, just not finished until the week after for one reason or another.
But it was ironed out in a hotel bar or out by the pool, or in the workout room, or in the stands at the Combine. GMs love to do business face-to-face, and the Senior Bowl and the Combine are the only NFL events where all participants are in attendance and available.
Advertisement
This weekend, Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort was busy with some in-house laundry when he restructured the contract of veteran RB James Conner right before free agency began. Conner had signed a two-year, $19 million extension in November of 2024 that would keep him on the roster through the 2026 season. The 31-year old was due a roster bonus of $1 million on March 15 and scheduled to make $6.4 million this year.
Another contract that was restructured was the cornerback Murphy-Bunting. He came to Arizona in 2024 and signed a three–year, $25.50 million deal, which involved $17.39 million guaranteed with $14.19 million guaranteed upon signing. He was originally selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He had 15 starts in his first year with the Cardinals, with 52 tackles, three tackles for loss, zero sacks, five batted passes, and three picks. However, in May of last year, before training camp began, he suffered a horrible knee injury away from the practice facility. The injury and subsequent surgery placed Murphy-Bunting on the reserve/non-football injury list, which meant he was then sidelined for the entire 2025 season.
Advertisement
Murphy-Bunting is expected to compete for a starting position in the defensive backfield and could become the dark horse on this year’s Cardinals defense. It was expected that the team would cut him this offseason, which would have saved $7.2 million in cap space by releasing him. But instead, Ossenfort restructured his contract and wants him to come in healthy and work himself back into a starting role.
One reason the franchise is bringing back Murphy-Bunting is that new head coach Mike LaFleur retained DC Nick Rallis, who wanted the cornerback. The defensive backfield already has young players such as Will Johnson, Garrett Williams, Max Melton, and the emergence of Denzel Burke, and Rallis believes that Murphy-Bunting ties this group all together. His veteran presence should become the glue to this group.
This also allows Ossenfort to focus on other positions of need in April’s NFL draft instead of the cornerback room.
In addition, kicker Ryland was inked to another one-year deal. This is a smart move since Ryland displayed a dependable leg and was very consistent.
Advertisement
Last year, in his second season with Arizona, Ryland played in all 17 games and was successful on 25 of 33 field goals for a 75.8% accuracy rate. He was 6-10 of 50+ which was his weakest distance. He converted on every PAT going 36-36 and had 82 kickoffs with 20 touchbacks.
In 2024, Ryland converted 28 of 32 field goals (87.5%) and missed only one PAT in 27 attempts.
Read the full article here
