Dwight Freeney is returning to the NFL.
The Arizona Cardinals have reached an agreement with the defensive end on a one-year deal, NFL Network’s Rand Getlin reports.
Freeney spent the last two seasons playing for the San Diego Chargers, playing in all 16 games last year where he only had 3.5 sacks, but the seven-time Pro-Bowler was a factor for the Bolts nonetheless, adding 40 quarterback hurries.
After the Cardinals 42-17 victory over the Detroit Lions, they lost Alex Okafor and Kenny Demens to injury. And by adding Freeney, they bring 13 years of NFL experience to the team.
One of the major reasons the Cardinals added Freeney was his familiarity with head coach Bruce Arians and defensive coordinator James Bettcher, for whom both were on the Indianapolis Colts coaching staff back in 2012 while Freeney was a member.
Freeney has already passed a physical in Arizona and he will sign a contract with the Cardinals today, Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports.
Dwight Freeney’s one-year contract is based on the NFL’s minimum league salary ($870,000) plus sack incentives NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source involved in the deal.
Freeney is a three-time first-team All-Pro defensive end with the Colts. He played for the Cardinals coach Bruce Arians in 2012 when Arians was the Colts interim head coach while Chuck Pogano dealt with his health concerning cancer.
At age 35, the question now is whether Freeney has anything useful in the tank after 13 years in the NFL. At the very least, he will probably give the team a situational pass rusher, however. Signing with the 4-1 Cardinals will at the very least give Freeney one more shot at winning a ring.
Back in July, Freeney said to Sirius XM NFL Radio that he wanted to play this season, but wanted the “right situation,” one that would use him as an “attacking” pass rusher. Freeney hasn’t posted double-digited sacks since 2010, but he does make sense for the Cardinals as a situational pass rusher given his experience.
Having played in 183 games, he now has one more opportunity to increase on his 310 tackles, 111.5 sacks and 44 forced fumbles, not to mention a possible deep run into the playoffs.
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