The Arizona Cardinals will sign former Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers pass rusher Dwight Freeney to a one-year deal on Monday, according to Rand Getlin of NFL Network. The deal reportedly features a minimum salary for Freeney, but has incentives for sacks.
Dwight Freeney will sign 1-year deal with Cardinals
Freeney is one of the most prolific pass rushers of all time, but managed just four sacks in two seasons with the Chargers.
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Freeney, 35, is far from the pass rusher who posted seven double-digit sack seasons while in Indianapolis. However, he bounced back from a season-ending quad tendon tear in 2013 to be a solid pass rusher for the Chargers in 2014, despite finishing the year with just 3.5 sacks.
The Cardinals are 4-1 and have allowed the fifth-fewest points per game in the NFL, but are No. 24 in the league in sacks with just eight through the first five weeks. Outside linebacker Alex Okafor leads the team with two sacks, but left a win over the Detroit Lions in Week 5 with a calf injury that is being further evaluated with an MRI.
In addition to Okafor’s injury, the Cardinals also believe third-year linebacker Kenny Demens is done for the year with a knee injury suffered in Week 4.
“I do not feel good,” Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said Sunday after the game when asked about the prognoses for Demens and Okafor.
Freeney was the subject of an ESPN Outside The Lines report in September that showed how the seven-time Pro Bowler was scammed out of $20 million, for which he sued Merrill Lynch and Bank of America.
The Cardinals have been one of the NFL's best teams, despite relying on the contributions of older NFL stars like Carson Palmer, Chris Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. Freeney's 111.5 career sacks make him 21st all-time, just a half of a sack behind his long-time Colts teammate, Robert Mathis.
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