HEADLINES

Max Melton

Cardinals CB Starling Thomas Suffers Torn ACL

July 27th, 2025 at 2:25pm CST by Rory Parks

2:25pm: Thomas has landed on injured reserve, per a team announcement. That move confirms he will join Murphy-Bunting in missing the entire 2025 campaign. Fellow cornerback Jaden Davis – who inked a futures deal in January – is also on IR.

11:56am: Cardinals cornerback Starling Thomas suffered a torn ACL during Friday’s practice, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Thomas will likely miss all of 2025 as a result.

Thomas, 25, signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He impressed in his first training camp with Detroit but was unable to make the club’s 53-man roster at the end of the summer. The Cardinals claimed him off waivers, and by the end of his rookie season, he had become a full-time starter.

He continued to operate in that capacity in 2024, appearing in a full complement of games and starting 15 of them en route to a 75% snap share. While his peformance last season was certainly an improvement on his rookie showing, he has not yet made much of an impression in terms of surface-level stats or advanced metrics.

Pro Football Focus assigned Thomas an uninspiring 60.9 overall grade (with a matching coverage grade) in 2024, which placed him 76th out of 116 qualified corners. The UAB product also surrendered a 100.6 quarterback rating and is still waiting for his first career interception. He tallied just six passes defensed in his 820 defensive snaps last year.

While ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss believes the Cardinals are well-equipped to withstand Thomas’ absence, the team was seemingly counting on him to remain a key contributor in the secondary. As Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic writes, Thomas and second-round rookie Will Johnson were splitting reps at one outside corner spot, with 2024 second-rounder Max Melton getting the lion’s share of the looks on the opposite side.

With veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting set to miss the entire 2025 campaign as well, the Cardinals could look to the free agent market for reinforcements. The team’s CB room is comprised largely of young talent like Melton, Johnson, 2023 third-rounder Garrett Williams, 2024 third-rounder Elijah Jones, and fifth-round rookie Denzel Burke.

On the other hand, as Weinfuss suggested when Thomas first suffered the injury (video link), Arizona may feel it has enough depth even without Murphy-Bunting and Thomas in the mix.

Cardinals Sign Round 2 CB Max Melton

May 14th, 2024 at 3:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The current CBA has largely removed holdout-driven drama from the NFL offseason, but the wiggle room regarding second-round picks does add some intrigue to the rookie signing process. The Cardinals’ Tuesday signing will help influence this year’s guarantee structures.

Arizona agreed to terms with its second-round pick — Rutgers cornerback Max Melton — Tuesday, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who adds the deal includes three fully guaranteed years and part of the DB’s 2027 salary being locked in at signing. The Cardinals are guaranteeing $50K of the No. 43 overall pick’s 2027 salary.

This follows the Rams’ Braden Fiske deal, which Wilson reported guarantees 15% of the Florida State defensive lineman’s 2027 base salary. Fiske went No. 39. The Rams and Cardinals’ deals show more progress being made by second-rounders. Last year’s class did not see its No. 39 overall pick (Jonathan Mingo) secure any Year 4 guarantees. The Cards giving Melton three fully guaranteed years and some 2027 guarantees will mandate this year’s Nos. 40-42 picks (cornerbacks Cooper DeJean, Kool-Aid McKinstry and Kamari Lassiter) receive some contract-year security.

Last year’s guarantee arc did not require the Jets to guarantee all of No. 43 overall pick Joe Tippmann‘s Year 3 salary, and No. 42 overall choice Luke Musgrave also did not receive three full years guaranteed. The Cardinals’ Melton agreement will continue to move the baseline for second-round guarantees, and the former Big Ten corner will get to work in attempting to carve out a significant role as a rookie in Arizona.

Checking in 50th on Daniel Jeremiah’s NFL.com big board, Melton is viewed as a player who could be a fit outside or in the slot. He intercepted eight passes over the past three seasons at Rutgers, returning one for a score. Melton also notched 10 passes defensed as a junior in 2022. The 5-foot-11 cover man added to his draft profile by running a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the Combine.

Arizona has been in need at corner for years, with Byron Murphy‘s 2023 exit for Minnesota amplifying the issue. The team’s group at the position will look different in 2024, as three CBs — Melton, third-rounder Elijah Jones and seventh-rounder Jaden Davis — join free agency addition Sean Murphy-Bunting as new faces here. The Cardinals did improve in pass defense last season, ranking 13th in Jonathan Gannon‘s debut; they will aim to make more gains with their new pieces this year.

The Cardinals also agreed to terms with third-rounder Isaiah Adams, a guard out of Illinois. Adams was part of a four-third-rounder haul for Arizona this year.