Five Free Agents to Replace Cardinals DL Zach Allen

The Arizona Cardinals no longer employ Zach Allen. Here's five free agent adds the team should evaluate to bring on.

Author:
Andrew Harbaugh
Publish date:
Mar 21, 2023 5:00 PM EDT

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It is official, the Cardinals will be without Zach Allen after he signed a free-agent deal with the Denver Broncos. The money was honestly an amount that you wish Arizona would have matched to invest in such a young player but instead, they coach and develop him before sending him off.

On a brighter note, there are other players out there who could serve as a viable replacements for the former Boston College standout.

Everyone has been projecting the team to address the defensive line and edge rushing group in the draft but for the sake of this piece, we will not be doing that.

They signed L.J. Collier to a one-year deal but more ammo will be needed along the defensive front. Instead of pairing Collier with a draft pick, we will be looking at the potential free agent fits or trade possibilities that could exist:

Five DL Prospects to Replace Cardinals DL Zach Allen

Poona Ford

While he doesn’t have the size you look for in an edge, Poona Ford is a fun player all around. He doesn’t have any stats that will pop off when you look them up but he does have the film that shows he disrupts plays time and again. Creating chaos in the backfield is the name of the game and Ford can do that to a decent degree of frequency.

Yannick Ngakoue

Despite being an eight-year veteran, Yannick Ngakoue is still just 27 years old and is coming off two impressive seasons. After breaking out in 2017 with 12 sacks, Ngakoue showed sustained success over the next six years. He has played on five different teams and if he plays for the Cardinals that would be his third team in three years. Despite that, he also has 19.5 sacks in the last two years.

Carl Nassib

This would serve as both a locker room presence but also a nice rotational piece. Nassib was a locker-room leader in both Cleveland and Tampa Bay and has flashed he can get you five to seven sacks a season if given the chance. In what will be a young edge and defensive line room, Nassib is someone you bring in who can show draft picks how to be pros the way that J.J. Watt did last year.

Frank Clark

Coming off three pro bowls in four seasons in Kansas City, Frank Clark found himself as a cap casualty this year. Clark, like Ford, doesn’t have the greatest stats but he can be an absolute game-wrecker on the interior and edge part of the defensive line. Now, Clark does have the off-the-field issues to be concerned about so for as much positivity a Nassib signing brings to the locker room, one could argue Clark brings the opposite.

Jadaveon Clowney

Clowney seemingly wore out his welcome in Cleveland despite finding moderate success during his two years with the team. He would be the leader in the position room right away and would also be able to give Will Anderson Jr. some insight into how to handle the pressures of being a top pick in the league. This move may not be a popular one if made but upon breaking down the layers to it I think fans should be all for it.