Marcus Gilbert‘s season is over. The projected starting tackle for the Cardinals is being placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
We knew Gilbert was dealing with an injury as he missed Week 1, but there were no indications that it was this severe. Arizona signed offensive tackle Jordan Mills earlier this morning, foreshadowing this move. Gilbert is in his first season with the team after getting traded over from Pittsburgh for a sixth-round pick back in March. The Florida product originally entered the league as a second-round pick of the Steelers back in 2011.
He became their starting right tackle, and spent the first eight years of his career with them. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first major injury for Gilbert. The Steelers traded him in part because of his injury history, as he had missed at least nine games in each of the past two seasons.
Making matters even worse for Gilbert, 2019 is the final year of his contract. He’ll now be heading into free agency in March at the age of 32 and coming off an ACL tear. He’s been a capable starter in the past, but he probably won’t have teams beating down his door and will have to settle for something cheap.
This guy does not ever have a season he isn’t hurt