D.J.

Humphries

Humphries tore his ACL in Week 17 and has been rehabbing it on his own. The Giants are in need of tackle depth with Andrew Thomas dealing with a long-term injury, Joseph Ezeudu a disaster, and Evan Neal apparently not in New York’s short-term plans.

The Cardinals’ 2015 first-rounder, Humphries had been the team’s primary left tackle for most of the past 7-8 years. That doesn’t say nine seasons because Humphries, of course, was infamously a healthy scratch his entire rookie campaign. The 30-year-old struggled with injuries for several years before finally getting fully comfortable on the blindside. That changed last New Year’s Eve when he tore his ACL. That made cutting him loose and recouping his $9.043 million in salary cap savings all too easy of a decision for Arizona. This can be a brutal game sometimes. Now Humphries is going to have trouble landing any guaranteed money for 2024, and may not find a new home until later in the summer.

Humphries was dealt a devastating hand late in the season when he suffered a torn ACL in Week 17 against the Eagles. Humphries will be pushing to get ready for the start of the season, but the early news on his recovery is encouraging. Humphries started 15 games for the Cardinals last season and has dealt with injuries throughout his eight-year career. He allowed four sacks on 568 pass block attempts last season per PFF and earned an overall pass blocking grade of 62.5. Assuming he’s healthy, we can likely expect to see Humphries manning the left side of the line come Week 1.

Humphries injured his ACL in Week 17’s win against the Eagles and will miss Arizona’s final regular season game. He would figure to be ready to go for early next season, barring any setbacks in his comeback from the knee injury. PFF graded Humphries as as league’s 58th best pass-blocking offensive lineman this season.

After Joshua Dobbs took a big hit, the Cardinals offensive line got feisty with the Seahawks defensive line. Humphries in particular was shoving Seahawks defenders when a ref stepped in the middle, and Humphries pushed the ref in the face. He was given a 15-yard penalty and thrown out of the game. The Cardinals will now insert Kelvin Beachum in at left tackle, which may not be a major downgrade based on the way Humphries had been playing.

The Cards clear $5.33 million in cap space with this restructured deal. Humphries, who signed a three-year extension last August, appeared in eight games last season before a back injury ended his 2022 campaign in mid-November. A Pro Bowler in 2021, Humphries earned a PFF pass block grade of 80.5 last season, allowing 15 quarterback pressures while not giving up a sack.

The Cardinals placed Humphries on injured reserve this past Saturday, but head coach Kliff Kingsbury announced the veteran tackle will not be returning in 2022. Humphries signed a three-year, $66.8 million extension this offseason and appeared in eight games for the Cardinals while allowing 15 quarterback pressures and no sacks per PFF.

Humphries also sat out Week 10 with the issue. Graded one of the best pass-blocking tackles by Pro Football Focus, Humphries has not allowed a sack on 382 pass-blocking reps this year. Josh Jones will likely take his place in the lineup again this week.

Heading into the final year of his previous three-year extension, Humphries said he wanted to play his entire career in Arizona, and this deal should get him closer to doing that. After dealing with some injury issues early in his career, Humphries has been a quality and reliable starter on the left side over the last three seasons. The Cardinals will hope he continues that trend this year.

Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Humphries gets $29 million guaranteed. Once viewed as a bust as the 24th overall pick of the 2015 draft, the 26-year-old managed to start all 16 games for the first time in his career last season, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 58 tackle out of 81 qualifiers. He’d previously missed 37 games across his first four seasons due to injuries. Humphries is by no means an upper-echelon player at his position, but this at least solidifies Kyler Murray’s blind side for the next couple seasons at least. At $15 million per year, Humphries would be the league’s third-highest paid left tackle.