Among all of Monti Ossenfort’s astute free agent signing and draft picks this off-season, the one signing that may be flying the most under the radar came via Monti’s mid-season 2024 trade with the Broncos for LB Baron Browning —-> yes, yet another Ohio St. Buckeye to enthusiastically don the Cardinals’ red, white and black.

Following the Cardinals last game of the 2024 season and while reflecting on the “exit interviews” they conducted with the players Monti, Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis unanimously expressed their despite to keep Baron Browning for 2025 and beyond. Facts are, Baron Browning with his superior quickness and bend was one of the few bright spots at edge rusher following the season-ending injury to Dennis Gardeck. Some of you may not know this, but Browning’s pass rushing grade of 76.2 was the highest on the team of pass rushers who played more than 300 snaps. In 8 games with the Cardinals, he finished with 25 QB pressures (22 QB hurries) and 2 sacks.

Total Value: $15 million.

Years: 2 years.

Signing Bonus: $5.5 million.

Guaranteed at Signing: $10 million.

Potential Incentives/Salary Escalators: Up to $4 million.

Roster Bonus: $2 million in 2026.

Browning’s 2-Year Deal:

Did you notice the date? March 9. The week before free agency —- which speaks to the urgency that Monti, JG and Nick Rallis had in getting this deal signed.

After the Cardinals went on to sign DE Josh Sweat, DT Dalvin Tomlinson, DE Calais Campbell and draft DT Walter Nolen and DE Jordan Burke, some fans may taken their eyes off of Browning for a bit —- but today we will attempt to suggest why the coaches have kept Baron Browning as one of their defensive focal points all along.

I say we —- because as one of the many perks of being an ROTB member, one can count on our members to come up with a brilliant epiphany of sorts every now and then, as was the case yesterday, imo, when this comment “spiked” our interest on the “Early Favorites to Start” thread:

Don’t you just love it when Spike and any of ROTB’s members look into their crystal balls?

If one considers the nature of the Cardinals’ off-season signings along the front lines, then one may conclude that, from the get-go this off-season, Monti, JG and Nick Rallis had it mind to veer away from the team’s old 3-4-4 base defense in order to get “back to the future” with the 4-3-4 hybrid defense that JG ran in Philadelphia.

Many of us were wondering whether the Cardinals were going to make a pitch to sign Hasson Reddick, the genuine article of the “flex edge” OLB of that 2022 Eagles’ defense.

Turns out —- the Cardinals already had the “flex edge” they wanted in Baron Browning.

For the sake of shiggs and gittles, let’s do a side-by-side comparison of their numbers:

Per their excellent athletic traits, Baron Browing is a slightly taller and quicker-footed version of Haason Reddick.

Browing is 26, Reddick is 30.

To date, Reddick has been the far more productive player. Browning has had injury issues.

Reddick found himself in year 4 with the Cardinals and I believe that so did Browning this past season, in his 4th.

The Cardinals were able to sign Baron Browning for 2 years at essentially the same money ($15M) it took the Bucs to sign Haason Reddick to a one-year ($14M) contract.

And by the way, yesterday, Reddick was a no-show on the first day of the Bucs’ OTAs. After last year’s debacle with the Jets, now this?

Other “flex edge” OLB fits:

B.J. Ojulari
Mack Wilson Sr.
Xavier Thomas

Cardinals’ potential 4-man front combos:

DEs:

Darius Robinson
Josh Sweat
Zaven Collins
Jordan Burch
L.J. Collier

DTs:

Dalvin Tomlinson
Calais Campbell (can play DE too)
Walter Nolen
Dante Stills (can play DE too)
Justin Jones
Bilal Nichols

ROTB Question:

Give us what you consider to be the 2 most dynamic 4-man front combos.

I will chime in with mine after you post yours.

This is some kind of fun, isn’t it?

Commentary:

I have thought for years that the Cardinals should abandon the 34-base defense. The main reason was —- they never seemed to comprehend the 34-base position prototypes, starting with rarely having a legitimate, durable, slobber knocking NFL nose tackle to anchor the whole dang thing.

Letting Calais Campbell leave in free agency was such a poor decision because he was the quintessential 34 DE. The Cardinals’ 34 defense has never the been the same without him.

Lastly, there is no need to remind everyone of how predictably inept the GM and the coaches were in identifying and developing the numerous draft picks they made at linebacker. With the irony of ironies being that, when they finally moved Haason Reddick to OLB where he flourished, it was “deja vu all over again” (Berra) when they chose to let Haason walk.

What various versions of the 43 create are far more certain positional proto-types and much fewer “tweeners.” It’s a defense that is much easier to draft for.

Hooray for this systematic renaissance in Arizona!

That is, if Spike just so happens to be correct.

I feel very confident that he is.

How about you?