Arizona Cardinals Free Agency 2012: Analyzing the Offensive Line

The main knock on Arizona in the Peyton Manning sweepstakes has been their offensive line that finished second last in the league last year in sacks allowed.

There are two problems or weaknesses on that line—former first-round pick Levi Brown and former seventh-round pick Brandon Keith.

Apparently, the Arizona Cardinals front office has heard or seen the level that those two played at, as they have not made much of an effort to extend Keith’s contract, and they just recently released Brown, who was scheduled to make upwards of $18 million in 2012.  

General manager Rod Graves would like to see Brown back in a Cardinals uniform next season, but has a lower salary number in mind.

I could see Levi Brown trying to test the market, and if there actually is a team that will give him a good amount of money, then so be it, but that likely will not happen, and he will be back in Cardinals uniform for cheap.

Keith will likely not be back on the roster next year unless it is for depth. If he gets a starting job, good for him, but I could also just as easily see him backing up a free agent, or even Levi Brown, in 2012.

Moving over to the left guard position, Arizona signed Daryn Colledge from the Green Bay Packers to a five-year contract.

Colledge was the Cardinals' best offensive lineman in 2011, and there will not be too much of an issue at that position over the next four years.

Arizona has one of the most underrated centers in the league in Lyle Sendlein. He was the second-best offensive lineman for the Cardinals in 2011 and has been great for the team over the past couple of years.

Rex Hadnot started at right guard for the Arizona Cardinals in 2011 as Deuce Lutui came into camp overweight.

Hadnot did not play that bad and got a lot better as the year went on. I have been saying for a few months now that Arizona has a solid interior line and that the problem is the tackles.

With that being said, if there is one spot that could use an upgrade in the interior, it would be the right guard position.

Now that the Cardinals' current offensive line has been addressed, let’s take a look at some of the free agents that they are supposedly targeting.

Arizona is meeting with Buffalo Bills tackle Demetrius Bell, San Francisco 49ers tackle Adam Snyder and Tennessee Titans guard Jake Scott.

Scott blocked for Peyton Manning for four seasons in Indianapolis, including their Super Bowl year in 2006. This signing would put the Cards right back at the top of the Manning race...at least on the NFL Network.

Bell and Snyder are pretty much as good as it gets for this year’s class of free-agent tackles, and signing one of them would allow Arizona to look elsewhere in the draft.

If Bell is signed, I would expect Rod Graves to re-sign Levi Brown and move him to right tackle. The line would look something like this:

LT: Demetrius Bell, D’Anthony Batiste

LG: Daryn Colledge, Floyd Womack or Deuce Lutui (depending on who is re-signed)

C: Lyle Sendlein, Ryan Bartholomew (practice squad) or a late-round draft pick

RG: Jake Scott, Rex Hadnot

RT: Levi Brown, Jeremy Bridges or Brandon Keith (if re-signed)

Signing both Bell and Scott would give the Arizona Cardinals one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and could be the deciding factor in whether or not they land Peyton Manning.