The Cardinals are expected to heavily pursue free agent offensive tackle Jared Veldheer, according to Kent Somers of AZCentral.com. The team is looking to improve their offensive line by upgrading at left tackle, where incumbent Bradley Sowell struggled mightily last season. Veldheer, 26, was somewhat surprisingly not franchise-tagged by the Raiders, who have ample cap space and could have aimed to sign him to a long-term contract. Now the Cardinals (whose top target, Branden Albert, will likely sign with the Dolphins) will look to swoop in and sign the young lineman.
Other free agent notes:
- ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner seconds Somers’ reports, and tweets the the Cardinals have “cooled” on free agent offensive lineman Rodger Saffold.
- Completing the offensive linemen circle, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets the the Raiders may be interested in Saffold.
- Approximately a dozen teams have expressed interest in free agent safety T.J. Ward, according to the National Football Post’s Aaron Wilson.
- The Eagles have yet to show much interest in free agent safety Jairus Byrd, but they could be interested in Mike Mitchell, who would cost much less, writes Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com.
- Safety Donte Whitner and running back Maurice Jones-Drew are two players that are of interest to the Jets, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.