Cardinals Keeping Veteran CB in Surprising Move

The Arizona Cardinals continue their offseason maneuvering with restructures ahead of free agency, and the latest is a bit surprising.

Shortly after news broke of James Conner's restructure, are reportedly doing the same with veteran cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.

From NFL insider Mike Garafolo on X:

"The Cardinals have also agreed to a reworked deal with CB Sean Murphy-Bunting, who missed the 2025 season with an injury. He's back in Arizona for this upcoming season."

Murphy-Bunting was a heavily expected cut candidate this offseason, as Arizona would have saved $7.2 million in cap space by parting ways with him.

Murphy-Bunting suffered an injury during the offseason which landed him on the reserve/non-football injury list, missing the entire 2025 season. In 2024, his first year with Arizona, he wasn't exactly the same cornerback who previously helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers push for a Super Bowl.

Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis is back for another season despite head coach Jonathan Gannon being fired, so we'll see if anything changes structurally within Arizona's defense.

Young guns such as Will Johnson and Denzel Burke took over starting boundary duties for Arizona last season. With Garrett Williams in the slot and fully healthy, it will be interesting to see where Murphy-Bunting fits into the rotation.

Why It's a Surprising Move

Dec 28, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) runs against Arizona Cardinals cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting (23) at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

It's mostly surprising given the lack of high level play and price tag, though wanting a veteran presence in Arizona's cornerback room is understandable.

Before his season-ending injury, Murphy-Bunting's PFF coverage grade of 53.1 ranked 167th out of 222 eligible corners for 2024.

According to Pro Football Reference, Murphy-Bunting's 70.7% completion rate when targeted in 2024 ranked as the second-worst season in his career.

The ability to save over $7 million by parting with the veteran corner seemed like nearly a no-brainer to many, which makes this a surprising move — especially with Starling Thomas V hitting free agency and recovering from his own season-ending ACL injury.

The Cardinals were already unlikely to add premium talent to the cornerback room, though Murphy-Bunting's presence now makes that even a bit more far fetched as free agency rolls around the corner.

Arizona marches into the future with plenty of needs and positions to address over the course of free agency and the draft. Cornerback was a potential lower-tier need, especially with a veteran in the room to help Arizona's young crop of cornerbacks — though Murphy-Bunting is sticking around.