4:00pm: It’s actually an original round tender for Swearinger, which will pay him $1.671MM, tweets Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. But because Swearinger was drafted in the second round, the Cardinals would receive a second-rounder as compensation if they declined to match an offer sheet.
3:53pm: The Cardinals have slapped a second-round tender on safety D.J. Swearinger, who will make $2.55MM in 2016 as a result, according to Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (Twitter link). There was a report last week that the Cardinals had tendered Swearinger at the lowest level, but that obviously appears false. Now, should any team attempt to sign Swearinger, it will have
to surrender a second-rounder for his services.
Given Arizona’s move to place a low-level tender on fellow safety Tony Jefferson last week, its decision to put second-round value on Swearinger is curious. Jefferson has appeared in all 48 possible regular-season games (17 starts) as a Cardinal, playing in over 70% of their defensive snaps in 2015-16. The production has been there, too — Jefferson graded as the No. 18 safety among 88 qualifiers in 2015, per Pro Football Focus.
Swearinger, on the other hand, joined the Cardinals last season after the Buccaneers waived him. He appeared in seven games (zero starts) and registered 12 tackles. PFF gave him a 55.1 overall grade, far below Jefferson’s 81.3. The 24-year-old Swearinger was Houston’s second-round pick in 2013. He started 22 of 32 regular-season games for the Texans, with whom he picked off four passes and forced three fumbles.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Per Kent Somers: DJ Swearinger’s tender was actually $1.67m. Received original round tender and he was taken in second round.
I see the update posted at the same time as my comment.