OT Marcus Gilbert, Cardinals Agree to Contract to Bolster Kyler Murray's OL

The Arizona Cardinals agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $3.75 million with free-agent offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert on Thursday. 

Gilbert's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, shared the news, which ESPN's Adam Schefter relayed.

Gilbert played eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2011 to 2018, making 87 starts. He signed with the Cardinals as a free agent before last season but suffered a torn ACL in September that prevented him from playing any games in 2019.

Gilbert is headed back to Arizona, however, as the Cardinals continue to make moves to beef up their offense around franchise signal-caller Kyler Murray.

The Cardinals traded for superstar wideout DeAndre Hopkins, formerly of the Houston Texans. They also inked running back Kenyan Drake to a one-year transition tag after the ex-Miami Dolphin amassed 643 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in just eight games for Arizona.

On the offensive line, Arizona re-signed left tackle D.J. Humphries to a three-year extension.

The right tackle spot is now a competition, per Cardinals beat writer Darren Urban, with Justin Murray and Gilbert as the top two candidates for the gig.

As Urban noted, the move could also change the Cardinals' viewpoint in the draft, where they hold the No. 8 overall pick.

Offensive tackle was a logical choice before the Gilbert signing, but the Cardinals can go a few different routes now if they're comfortable handing the right tackle spot to the player who wins that battle.

Defense would, therefore, seem like the best bet given the Cardinals' offseason offensive moves, and Arizona would have a bevy of choices. Perhaps Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons falls if there's a run on quarterbacks, or maybe the Cardinals choose from a talented group of defensive linemen (e.g. Auburn's Derrick Brown) or edge-rushers (K'Lavon Chaisson). A trade down could work as well.

Regardless of where the Cardinals go, they're sitting pretty this offseason as they look to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.