Where Do the Arizona Cardinals Turn Next Without John Abraham?

John Abraham shouldn’t be playing football. When you’ve been experiencing memory loss for over a year, reports ESPN's NFL Insider Adam Schefter, at the still young age of 36, the primary concern should be personal welfare and living a normal life beyond football. Playing a sport that requires repeated hits to the head every Sunday isn’t important at that point.

So Friday afternoon he made the right decision, or the decision was made for him or something. Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com provided Bruce Arians' comments regarding Abraham's situation:

The events of Abraham’s life over the past week or so have been interesting, to say the least, with the Arizona Cardinals' outside linebacker suffering a concussion in Week 1 and contemplating retirement. He sat out Week 2, and then he decided to return to the team only to fail a concussion test.

How he arrived on the injured reserve Friday with his season ending will become irrelevant. It’s the right ending because, once more with feeling, he shouldn’t be playing football.

Often NFL careers don’t end the easy way. That’s the reality of a brutal, physically draining sport. But if this is the end for Abraham, what’s his legacy? And short term, what does it mean for the Cardinals?

The latter question presents a pressing concern and a glaring hole in the Cardinals defense that just became larger.

	Status	Sacks
John Abraham	Injured reserve	11.5
Karlos Dansby	Walked as a free agent	6.5
Daryl Washington	Suspended	3.0
Total Sacks lost		21

The Cardinals defense thrived on pressure last season with 47 sacks (sixth), just as every NFC West team does. It started with Abraham and Calais Campbell firing off the edge. But the now suspended Daryl Washington brought some hurt too while also stuffing run lanes, as did the departed Karlos Dansby.

The loss of Abraham is crippling in two ways. The first is simple: Losing your best pass-rusher for an entire season typically ends poorly, and it isn't much fun. But secondly, that's compounded by the absence of Washington and Dansby, who were highly efficient against both the run and pass.

Combined, those three accounted for 44.7 percent of the Cardinals' sacks in 2013. There's depth behind Abraham in the form of Matt Shaughnessy and Sam Acho, who showed some promise that's never quite been repeated with seven sacks in his rookie year.

Shaughnessy will likely be leaned on most, and he was productive in a limited role last year, with 36 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble. Previously during his time with the Oakland Raiders, he had seven sacks in 2010, a career high. He can fire off the edge and complement Campbell but not nearly on Abraham's level.

Replacing a pass-rushing purge on this level won't happen, which means a greater burden will be placed on the secondary.

Thankfully, between Patrick Peterson and a re-energized Antonio Cromartie, that weight can be shouldered. Throughout two games the Cards already have three interceptions, and they've allowed an opposing passer rating of only 79.6.

Now back to that first question, which also isn't pleasant. If Abraham is forced to end his career, what's his legacy.

The answer? He should get serious Hall of Fame consideration.

	Career Sacks	Double-digit sacks seasons	Hall of Fame?
Bruce Smith	200.0	13	Yes
Reggie White	198.0	12	Yes
Kevin Greene	160.0	10	No
Chris Doleman	150.5	8	Yes
Michael Strahan	141.5	6	Yes
Jason Taylor	139.5	6	No
John Randle	137.5	9	Yes
Richard Dent	137.5	8	Yes
John Abraham	133.5	8	No
Lawrence Taylor	132.5	7	Yes
Leslie O'Neal	132.5	8	No

Even at the age of 35, last year Abraham still crumpled a quarterback 11.5 times. There's value in longevity and what he's continually brought as a pass-rushing for 15 seasons. Excluding this year, he's had only two other seasons significantly shortened by an injury.

Abraham may not get in immediately, because he doesn’t have a sexy record attached to his name like, say, Michael Strahan and the single-season sack mark. No, instead he’s just kept it simple and has been really good for a really long time.