Arizona Cardinals GM Keim: Team will have contract discussions with Darnell Dockett
Feb 18, 2015, 5:33 PM | Updated: 11:09 pm
Entering the offseason, the Arizona Cardinals had a couple of contract “issues” to work out.
The first was what to do with Larry Fitzgerald, who was scheduled to count $23.6 million against the team’s 2015 salary cap.
That got sorted out Wednesday, with the receiver agreeing to a new, restructured deal.
One of the next contracts on the docket is, well, Darnell Dockett’s.
And yes, bad pun intended.
The defensive tackle is set to count $9.8 million against the salary cap in 2015, which is the final year of his contract. Coming off a lost season due to a torn ACL, that may be a bit more than the Cardinals would like to pay him.
But that does not mean they want to part with him.
“We’d love to have Darnell back,” Cardinals GM Steve Keim said Wednesday from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “That’s one of those things, I’m not going to get into specific players because we could go down the list, but Darnell’s a guy that we really missed him this year because he was the heart and soul and he’s obviously an energetic player; he’s been a really good leader the past couple years.
“But we’ll be having some conversations with Darnell moving forward.”
Originally a third-round pick of the Cardinals’ in 2004, Dockett has amassed 530 tackles, 40.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, 13 fumble recoveries and four interceptions in his career, all of which has been spent in Arizona. A Pro Bowler in 2007, 2009 and 2010, he ranks 7th on the team’s all-time sack leaders list.
