Top 5 Players in Their Last Season With Cardinals

The time spent with any team comes to end for all athletes eventually. For some that will mean moving on in free agency and for others it might mean retirement. Still, it is possible the team you've called home for years trades you away to another organization.

For the Arizona Cardinals this will inevitably be the last year that many names grace the roster lists, including names that have been around and well-respected for years.

That is, for better or worse though, the way of the world.

Even legends who defined the franchise for nearly a generation like Larry Fitzgerald will eventually stop showing up to work at the Dignity Health Training Center in the mornings.

So who are the top five players most likely to be gone next season? Let's take a look.

1. Calais Campbell - Retirement

This is quite an easy one. Campbell is a Cardinals legend but at 38 years old (39 during the season) it stands to reason that 2025 is going to be the big man's final go.

Campbell was drafted by the Cardinals all the way back in 2008 and spent the first nine years of his professional career in Arizona, a timespan that included both the Super Bowl run of 2009 and the NFC Championship game run of 2016.

Since then, Campbell has continued playing at a high level in Jacksonville, Baltimore, and Atlanta before coming home in free agency this offseason.

That move, bringing the old head back for one last rodeo definitely feels like a retirement move, but don't let that fool you into believing he can't still be a force on the field.

He may not get the number of snaps he once did, but Campbell projects to be an impactful piece in a new defensive line rotation for 2025.

2. Jalen Thompson - Free Agency

Thompson has been a really nice yin to Budda Baker's yang for the past few seasons giving the Cardinals one of the more reliable safety duos in the league.

This prediction has little to do with Thompson's play which has largely earned him laudits from coaching staffs and opponents. He earned a $36 million extension in 2022 and this season will be the last year of that contract.

Pair that with no news of any work being done on a second extension and the flashes shown by 2024 fourth round pick Dadrion Taylor-Demerson last year and it seems most likely that this will be the seventh and final season of his tenure with the Cardinals.

3. Kelvin Beachum - Retirement

A 2012 draft pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Beachum has been around the block a few times and in that span has been both a quality starting tackles as well as one of the most consistent swing tackles in the league.

Beachum has been a Cardinal since 2020 and has filled both of those roles for the team at various times. However, the end comes for all sooner or later and the thirteen year NFL vet will turn 36 years old on June 8.

Although that seems almost young compared to the number one player on this list, 14 year NFL careers are few and far between and considering Beach already had to get his wife to sign off on one more year this feels like the end of the road for him.

4. Greg Dortch - Free Agency

Like most on this list, Dortch has been a fan favorite for many Cardinals supporters in his four seasons with the team.

His story is hard to beat. Undrafted free agent turned bona fide NFL starter but what started as a very promising rise as a slot receiver turned stagnant in 2024. He was re-signed this offseason but only to a one year, $3.2 million deal.

Dortch truly broke out and into a starting role in 2022 as a nice, bottom of the roster surprise that fans always gravitate towards. Also, by all accounts he is well-liked and respected in the locker room. None of which changes the fact that he has put up only a bit over 500 yards of production over the last two seasons.

There was speculation this offseason that the Cardinals might look to upgrade at slot receiver, but as of this writing it does seem Dortch will get one more crack at it. Another down year would likely spell the end of the "Light the Dortch" chants in the desert.

5. Jonah Williams - Free Agency

Williams was signed in the 2024 offseason with the hopes that he could provide a solid presence at right tackle as 2023 first round pick Paris Johnson Jr. returned to his native side of the field.

Sadly, that vision was blurred immediately with a major knee injury in Week One of the 2025 season. He did return to the lineup later in the year but Williams' play was adequate at best and certainly fell below what was expected of him.

He does have one more year on his deal and the Cardinals have decided to let him play that year out, however, it does not seem as if there are any long-term plans that involve retaining Williams and the team will be looking for their next right tackle in either the stable of young players they already have on the roster or in next year's draft.