March 6, 2026, 3:03 p.m. MT
The Arizona Cardinals, two days after making a pair of salary-saving moves, have made another. They announced Friday that they released defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson.
Tomlinson signed a two-year, $29 million contract last offseason and played and started every game. He had 26 tackles, only one sack, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. In each of his three previous seasons, he had at least 2.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits.
Tomlinson was due a $1 million roster bonus on March 15 and was scheduled to make more than $12.7 million. The release will save the Cardinals $9.4 million in salary cap space but will leave $6.8 million in dead money to account for the remaining proration of his original $8.5 million signing bonus.
The Cardinals have now freed up more than $20 million cap space with the release of Tomlinson, defensive lineman Bilal Nichols and linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither.
Defensive line depth chart after releases
Now without Tomlinson and Nichols, the Cardinals have the following defensive linemen still under contract in 2026:
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Calais Campbell and L.J. Collier will be unrestricted free agents. P.J. Mustipher will be an exclusive rights free agent.
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