The Arizona Cardinals did well in free agency to fill holes across the roster approaching the 2025 NFL Draft, though there's still some work to do according to The Athletic.
In their pre-draft roster rankings, the Cardinals fall at No. 20 with the following explanation from Austin Mock:
"The Cardinals made a big splash in free agency by acquiring edge rusher Josh Sweat from the Eagles. Even with Sweat there, though, they still could benefit from making additional reinforcements along the defensive line," wrote Mock.
"The Cardinals also have a bottom-five receiving group and rank in the bottom third at cornerback, so look for them to address those needs next week."
Along with Sweat, Arizona added names such as Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson to their defensive line on top of re-signing some prominent names that were set to leave the roster.
Despite the Cardinals having a bottom third ranking at corner, Arizona is fairly confident in their group of young faces in Garrett Williams, Max Melton and Starling Thomas taking steps forward in 2025 - though a corner still shouldn't be discounted at some point in the draft.
“We're excited. I think we're about 95% (through) the board. We’ll leave a little wiggle room to do a little tweaking here over the next week, but we're in a good spot," Ossenfort told reporters during his pre-draft press conference.
"Next week, we'll run through a few scenarios, and we'll do a few mock draft exercises amongst our staff, but we’re excited. We will have something fun to talk about with you guys on Thursday night.”
The 49ers and Rams finished ahead of Arizona in the roster rankings while the Cardinals did place above the Seahawks.
Arizona finished 2024 with eight wins on their schedule and are expected to compete for a postseason spot again next season. Another strong draft class from Ossenfort could help push the Cardinals over the postseason hump for their first playoff appearance since 2021.
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