Cardinals Save $9.4 Million After Releasing Starting DL

The Arizona Cardinals are releasing veteran defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, which was made official by the team on Friday.

The move saves Arizona $9.4 million in cap savings while they'll eat $6.8 million in dead money. This brings the Cardinals' cap total to $49 million in spending power, which is subject to change depending on details of Kyler Murray's pending release.

Tomlinson initially signed a two-year, $29 million contract last offseason to bulk Arizona's defensive line. Now, after just one season, he's out of the desert.

Tomlinson arrived via free agency last season as a veteran run stuffer that could plug gaps and command double teams after doing so in previous stops at the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns before landing in Arizona.

He first entered the league as a second-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He started all 17 games for Arizona last season and will enter his tenth year in the league after just turning 32-years-old.

Fellow defenders Akeem Davis-Gaither and Bilal Nichols were released yesterday as well.

The Cardinals' defensive line room will look to young names such as Dante Stills, Walter Nolen III and Darius Robinson to anchor the line with potential adds coming in free agency and the draft within the next few months.

With how thin the position currently is, it feels like a certainty the Cardinals will address it at some point.

Fellow names in Justin Jones and Calais Campbell are set to hit free agency, which unofficially begins on March 9. The first day of the 2026 league year is March 11.

Along with their spending coming in the next few weeks, Arizona does have all seven draft picks with the No. 3 overall pick at their disposal come late April. Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort was aggressive in free agency last year but has maintained the intent to build the team through the draft.

More cap casualties such as Baron Browning ($4.6 million), Sean Murphy-Bunting ($7.2 million), Evan Brown ($4.9 million), James Conner ($7.5 million) and Zaven Collins ($4.3 million) could be on the way for the Cardinals this offseason.

It's a big one for Arizona, who fired previous head coach Jonathan Gannon and will look to move into the future with Mike LaFleur as their new leader.

It's unknown exactly what LaFleur covets in free agency, though we'll see what the Cardinals have up their sleeves in just a few day's time.