Cardinals Make First Splash of Free Agency, Sign Falcons RB

The Arizona Cardinals have landed their first free agent of the 2026 class.

According to reports, the Cardinals are bringing on former Atlanta Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier on a two-year, $12 million deal to tote the rock in the desert.

BREAKING: The #Cardinals are signing #Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier to a 2-year, $12M, per sources.

Allgeier has proven to have RB1 qualities in a shared role in Atlanta, totaling 2,876 rushing yards and 20 total TDs. A big addition. pic.twitter.com/qPpdpjbHY9
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 9, 2026

Arizona just restructured James Conner's contract to keep him in Arizona while former high pick Trey Benson is also on the depth chart.

Allgeier has been a complementary back to Bijan Robinson in Atlanta and had been with the Falcons for four seasons before hitting the open market. He's played in all 17 games the last three seasons and mostly was featured in either a sub role to Robinson on regular downs or heavy/short-yardage packages.

Allgeier did rush for over 1,000 yards in his first season with Atlanta. He's never caught more than 18 passes in one season.

The Cardinals, under hew head coach Mike LaFleur, are hoping to re-establish its run identity moving into 2026. While the offensive line still needs a hefty amount of work, Arizona adds to a pretty full running back room moving into the early hours of free agency.

This likely means no Jeremiyah Love for the Cardinals with the third overall pick now, and quite frankly this could mean either Conner or Benson are replaceable entering the depths of the offseason. It's likely Benson who will see a decrease in action, as he hasn't been overly impressive outside of a few splash plays through the first two years of his career.

Arizona now looks to bolster the trenches after fully satisfying their running back position. Spots such as left guard, right guard and right tackle all could stand for upgrades moving into the next few weeks.

Running the ball was something the Cardinals struggled to do last season after OL coach Klayton Adams departed. A slew of injuries, coaching and poor play saw Arizona finish as the second-worst rushing attack in terms of yards per game (93.1). Their average yards per carry was 4.3, which ranked in the middle of the pack.

In terms of offensive line play specifically, Arizona left much to be desired.

The Cardinals' offensive line ranked just outside the bottom third of average yards before contact on running plays at 1.2 while their run stuff rate of 19% ranked as the eighth-worst in the league per SharpFootballAnalysis.

Arizona still has work left to do, though Allgeier was a big get for their offense.