The Arizona Cardinals made news on Tuesday as the team signed a former first-rounder.
According to multiple reports, Arizona signed free-agent defensive end L.J. Collier to a one-year deal.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter was the first to report the news that Collier would be staying in the NFC West.
The Seattle Seahawks selected Collier with the 29th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Collier had starred with the TCU Horned Frogs prior to entering the league, as he was named to the All-Big 12 First-Team in 2018. Collier’s career in Seattle was marred with injuries as the former first-round pick only played in 45 games across four seasons with the Seahawks, who declined his fifth-year option ahead of last season.
Collier’s best season in Seattle came in 2020, where he started all 16 games. Collier recorded 22 total tackles (four for loss), three sacks, seven quarterback hits and two passes defended. In his final two seasons with the Seahawks, Collier played sparingly, totaling 15 total tackles (two for loss) with six quarterback hits and three passes defended, while making zero starts.
The Cardinals are hoping to make some kind of move with this signing, as the team’s depth at the defensive end position is dire after losing Zach Allen to the Denver Broncos in free agency. We’ll have to see if head coach Jonathan Gannon is able to recapture some of that potential that made Collier such a tantalizing prospect just a few years ago.
[Adam Schefter on Twitter]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.