The Arizona Cardinals have made many offseason moves on the offensive line. They swapped out their starting left guard, releasing Evan Brown and signing Isaac Seumalo to a three-year deal worth $10.5 million per year.
However, they have taken two very different approaches addressing the left and right sides of the line.
Left side: Add high-quality player
The Cardinals went with paying the 32-year-old Seumalo (he will turn 33 this season) a solid contract on the left side. They have Paris Johnson handling left tackle, and Seumalo is a very good left guard. He is aging, but he didn’t command big guard money.
He is a proven, solid commodity and should, with Johnson, be a great duo on the left side.
Their approach to the right side of the line has been quite different.
Right side: Add bodies
The Cardinals have not re-signed Jonah Williams, Will Hernandez or Kelvin Beachum.
Isaiah Adams, Jon Gaines and Hayden Conner return at guard. Josh Fryar, Christian Jones and Demontrey Jacobs return at tackle
They signed Elijah Wilkinson to a two-year contract. They added Matt Pryor and Oli Udoh to small one-year deals.
None of those players moves the needle in terms of positivity.
Wilkison was the starting right tackle for the Atlanta Falcons last season. He played all 17 games and played every snap. He was in Arizona as a starting left guard previously and wasn’t particularly great. He is now 31 years old and was penalized 11 times last season. He has 62 career starts, both at tackle and guard.
Pryor has 40 career starts, playing both guard and tackle. Udoh has 22 career starts, some at tackle and some at guard.
Unless they draft a tackle or guard in the first or second rounds, rather than a known, proven solid starter at right position on the right side, it will be an offseason competition to see who emerges.
Maybe that is Adams, who has started 16 games in two seasons at guard.
We could see a combination of Adams and Fryar. Wilkinson might start at either spot. Jacobs could be in the mix. Pryor and Udoh are wild cards. If they draft one, that will feel better, although it will mean a rookie will start, and that often has mixed results.
Perhaps young players develop and emerge, but the early stages of the offseason make it appear that the Cardinals have tons of options for both starting positions on the right side, although none of the options make anyone feel good right now.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals using 2 different strategies O-line