If you followed the money, the Cardinals appeared to suffer heavy losses in the secondary during free agency last spring.
Three starters – cornerback Marcus Cooper and safeties Tony Jefferson and D.J. Swearinger – departed for a total of $31 million in full guarantees, including $19 million for Jefferson.
In addition, the Cardinals asked two possible replacements, cornerback Justin Bethel and safety Tyvon Branch, accepted pay cuts after both struggled through injuries in 2016.
All those moves helped the team’s salary cap situation, but the NFL doesn’t hand out rings for that. It helps if a secondary can cover receivers and tackle, and it was fair to ask if the Cardinals would be as good at those things in 2017.