Arizona Cardinals: Free Agency Wishlist

The Should Be Targets:

QB Peyton Manning

WR Vincent Jackson

WR DeSean Jackson

WR Mario Manningham

G Carl Nicks

DT Red Bryant

OLB Anthony Spencer

CB Cortland Finnegan

CB Carlos Rogers

FS Dashon Goldson

The Solutions:

You know who will be the happiest man in the desert, take a guess? Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald would be one happy camper if the Cardinals went out and signed All-Pro QB Peyton Manning. Manning is a huge upgrade over Kevin Kolb and John “Halloween” Skelton. Imagine the kind of numbers Fitzgerald and Manning would put up. Manning is a once in lifetime talent that hardly comes around and when 100% healthy he is one of the NFL’s top 5 QB’s.

WR DeSean Jackson would be a great signing for the Cardinals. The tandem of Jackson and Fitzgearald would be reminiscent of the Anquan Boldin/Fitzgerald days. But the lethal combination of Fitzgerald and Jackson would be more explosive. Jackson is a home run hitter. If the Cardinals sign Jackson then he would be the Cardinals number two receiver with Earl Doucet moving to the slot and Andre Roberts being the number four receiver.

The signing of G Carl Nicks would give the Cardinals one of the NFL’s best guard tandems with him and Daryn Colledge. Nicks would immediately strengthen a weak RG spot. G Deuce Lutui is solid but has trouble keeping his weight down. This will probably be Lutui’s last year in Arizona or he probably will be released before the 2012 season starts if he doesn’t want to be a backup.

The Cardinals need to beef up their defensive line with some quality talent. DT Dan Williams has been decent not great. I think the Cardinals need to sign DT Red Bryant from the Seahawks. For one he would upgrade the DT position and his signing would weaken the Seahawks, the Cardinals in division rivals. Bryant is very talented, he can play the run, rush the passer, and block kicks.

To me the Cardinals biggest weakness is the CB position. I know i know Rookie Patrick Peterson had a good year but it was mostly at the special teams position. There were some games were Peterson excelled at the CB position and some games were he struggled and played like a rookie. I believe Peterson will eventually be a solid pro CB, but for the time being the Cardinals need a solid veteran CB who can cover and has solid ball skills.

I think the Cardinals need to sign CB Carlos Rogers if he is available or Cortland Finnegan. Finnegan is more physical than Rogers, but Rogers makes more plays on the football as evident this past season where Rogers had a career best 6 interceptions. Richard Marshall was solid last season for the Cardinals and the Cardinals will probably bring him back. Marshall would move to nickel if the Cardinals signed Rogers or Finnegan.