The options for left tackle in 2024 changed for the Cardinals on Wednesday after the team released veteran D.J. Humphries after nine seasons.
Humphries, who tore his ACL against the Eagles on New Year's Eve, faces a long rehab and would not have been ready for the start of the 2024 season. Between that and a salary cap number of $22.9 million this season, GM Monti Ossenfort decided to move on from the former first-round pick.
Later on Wednesday, the Cardinals reportedly came to a free-agent agreement with veteran tackle Jonah Williams.
Humphries was the team's top choice in the 2015 draft but was inactive all season while the Cardinals made a run to the NFC Championship game. Eventually, he matured into the starting left tackle he was expected to be and started all 98 games in which he appeared.
Injuries were part of Humphries' storyline, limited to five games in 2017 and nine in 2018. But he played every game in 2019 and 2020 and missed only one in 2021 – his lone Pro Bowl season – because of Covid.
A back injury kept him out half the season in 2022, and while he played most of 2023, the serious knee injury in the next-to-last game put his immediate future in doubt.
His personality was big, both with the media and in the locker room, and he was a quote machine. But he also had a mean streak on the field that served the four-time team captain well.
The question now is what the Cardinals do at left tackle, although even if Humphries would have stayed they would have needed a solution until he returned. Paris Johnson Jr., who played every snap as a rookie although it was at right tackle, did play his final year at Ohio State on the left side.
That was a topic broached to Humphries last offseason after Johnson was selected.
"This is the NFL. You know what comes with this," Humphries said. "I'm not here to be worried about who they drafted. Instead of worrying about who they drafted you need to be thinking about what you need to be working on so you don't get put on the bench when they draft that guy.
"I know he's going to be good for our line."
Whether Johnson moves to left or stays on the right, the upcoming draft is rich in quality tackles that could potentially start on either side. The Cardinals would likely have a chance to take someone like Notre Dame's Joe Alt with the fourth pick overall, although the depth would open possibilities with their No. 27 overall pick or their second-round choice at No. 35.
Releasing Humphries will save significant money on the cap. Humphries was designated a post-June 1 release, meaning they would have a cap savings of almost $16M this season with a dead hit this season of about $7M, although they need to carry $13M in a cap hit for now until June 2.
