Cardinals’ Sean Murphy-Bunting Suffered ACL Tear In 2025; Latest On Team’s CB Corps
This spring, while Cardinals cornerback Garrett Williams rehabbed the Achilles tear he suffered at the end of last season, Sean Murphy-Bunting took over Williams’ usual role in the slot, as Zach Gershman of the team’s official website notes. That is familiar territory for Murphy-Bunting, who saw over 1,100 snaps in the slot as a member of the Buccaneers from 2019-22.
Murphy-Bunting missed the entirety of the 2025 slate due to a knee injury and is entering the final year of the three-year, $22.5MM deal he signed with Arizona in March 2024. Per Gershman, that knee injury turned out to be an ACL tear, and SMB dealt with some MCL damage as well. The ACL tear naturally required surgery, while Murphy-Bunting allowed the MCL to heal on its own.
Now 29, Murphy-Bunting did not see any action in the slot in 2024, taking 580 snaps outside the numbers and 141 in the box. But even after his recent report indicating Williams could be ready to play in Week 1, Darren Urban of the Cards’ official site predicts SMB will be in the nickel in the season opener.
Though he still spent the majority of his time in the slot, Williams took far more snaps out wide (172) in 2025 than he had in either of his first two professional seasons. Given that experience, and given that Murphy-Bunting thrived in the slot in the early stages of his career, defensive coordinator Nick Rallis may be able to mix and match the duo over the course of the season.
In the same piece linked above, Urban predicts 2025 second-rounder Will Johnson, who played reasonably well as a rookie, will land one of the two starting boundary corner gigs in Week 1. That is a fairly easy call, but the question of who will start opposite Johnson is a bit more difficult to answer.
At present, Urban expects another second-year player, Denzel Burke, to assume that role. Both Burke and 2024 draftee Max Melton started eight games last season, and while neither player impressed Pro Football Focus, Urban characterizes Burke’s rookie performance as “solid.” PFF graded Burke as the league’s 81st-best corner out of 112 qualified players, while Melton was near the very bottom at No. 109.
Urban does leave open the possibility that Williams could take over the CB2 job, which would presumably leave Murphy-Bunting as the primary slot man. Like SMB, Williams is entering a platform campaign.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/9/25
We saw a busy day of 2025 NFL Draft pick signings today. Here are the mid- to late-round picks who inked their four-year rookie deals:
Arizona Cardinals
- OLB Jordan Burch (third round, Oregon)
- CB Denzel Burke (fifth round, Ohio State)
- G Hayden Conner (sixth round, Texas)
- S Kitan Crawford (seventh round, Nevada)
Buffalo Bills
- DE Landon Jackson (third round, Arkansas)
- CB Jordan Hancock (fifth round, Ohio State)
- TE Jackson Hawes (fifth round, Georgia Tech)
- CB Dorian Strong (sixth round, Virginia Tech)
- T Chase Lundt (sixth round, Connecticut)
- WR Kaden Prather (seventh round, Maryland)
Cincinnati Bengals
- G Dylan Fairchild (third round, Georgia)
- LB Barrett Carter (fourth round, Clemson)
- T Jalen Rivers (fifth round, Miami)
- RB Tahj Brooks (sixth round, Texas Tech)
Detroit Lions
- G Miles Frazier (fifth round, LSU)
- DE Ahmed Hassanein (sixth round, Boise State)
- S Dan Jackson (seventh round, Georgia)
- WR Dominic Lovett (seventh round, Georgia)
Houston Texans
- S Jaylen Reed (sixth round, Penn State)
- QB Graham Mertz (sixth round, Florida)
- DT Kyonte Hamilton (seventh round, Rutgers)
- TE Luke Lachey (seventh round, Iowa)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- CB Caleb Ransaw (third round, Tulane)
- G Wyatt Milum (third round (West Virginia)
- LB Jalen McLeod (sixth round, Auburn)
- S Rayuan Lane III (sixth round, Navy)
- C Jonah Monheim (seventh round, USC)
- RB LeQuint Allen (seventh round, Syracuse)
Las Vegas Raiders
- WR Dont’e Thornton Jr. (fourth round, Tennessee)
Los Angeles Chargers
- DT Jamaree Caldwell (third round, Oregon)
- OLB Kyle Kennard (fourth round, South Carolina)
- WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (fifth round, Auburn)
- TE Oronde Gadsden II (fifth round, Syracuse)
- G Branson Taylor (sixth round, Pittsburgh)
- S RJ Mickens (sixth round, Clemson)
- S Trikweze Bridges (seventh round, Florida)
Minnesota Vikings
- WR Tai Felton (third round, Maryland)
- DE Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins (fifth round, Georgia)
- LB Kobe King (sixth round, Penn State)
- TE Gavin Bartholomew (sixth round, Pittsburgh)
New England Patriots
- WR Kyle Williams (third round, Washington State)
- C Jared Wilson (third round, Georgia)
- DT Joshua Farmer (fourth round, Florida State)
- OLB Bradyn Swinson (fifth round, LSU)
- K Andy Borregales (sixth round, Miami)
- T Marcus Bryant (seventh round, Missouri)
- LS Julian Ashby (seventh round, Vanderbilt)
- CB Kobee Minor (seventh round, Memphis)
New York Giants
- G Marcus Mbow (fifth round, Purdue)
- TE Thomas Fidone II (seventh round, Nebraska)
New York Jets
- CB Korie Black (seventh round, Oklahoma State)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- RB Kaleb Johnson (third round, Iowa)
- OLB Jack Sawyer (fourth round, Ohio State)
- DT Yahya Black (fifth round, Iowa)
- QB Will Howard (sixth round, Ohio State)
- LB Carson Bruener (seventh round, Washington)
- CB Donte Kent (seventh round, Central Michigan)
San Francisco 49ers
- LB Nick Martin (third round, Oklahoma State)
- CB Upton Stout (third round, Western Kentucky)
- WR Jordan Watkins (fourth round, Ole Miss)
- RB Jordan James (fifth round, Oregon)
- S Marques Sigle (fifth round, Kansas State)
- G Connor Colby (seventh round, Iowa)
- WR Junior Bergen (seventh round, Montana)
Tennessee Titans
- S Kevin Winston Jr. (third round, Penn State)
- WR Elic Ayomanor (fourth round, Stanford)
- G Jackson Slater (fifth round, Sacramento State)
- CB Marcus Harris (sixth round, California)
- RB Kalel Mullings (sixth round, Michigan)
Washington Commanders
- WR Jaylin Lane (fourth round, Virginia Tech)
- LB Kain Medrano (sixth round, UCLA)
- RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (seventh round, Arizona)