{"id":772935,"date":"2026-02-24T09:55:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T09:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/772935\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T09:55:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T09:55:17","slug":"cardinals-jalen-thompson-ranked-highly-in-2026-free-agents-ranking-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/772935\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals\u2019 Jalen Thompson ranked highly in 2026 free agents ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE \u2013 The Arizona Cardinals can generate nearly $90 million in cap space this offseason if it cuts players with some big money and no guarantees. Many fans and experts see that as an opportunity to go out and sign a new, exciting player to the roster to improve the team. However, general manager Monti Ossenfort could look to use that extra cash to bring back safety free agent Jalen Thompson back on the roster.<\/p>\n

NFL.com\u2019s Gregg Rosenthal ranked the top 101 free agents in this year\u2019s class, and Thompson came in at 73rd overall and sixth for all safeties.<\/p>\n

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Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson (34) against the San Francisco 49ers at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Should Arizona try to retain Thompson?<\/p>\n

Since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft, the 27-year-old has made an impact on the field. Thompson slide in perfectly right next to All-Pro safety Budda Baker, and the duo have become the overseers of Arizona\u2019s defense. In 2021 and 2022, Thompson had back to back 100+ tackles seasons and combined for five touchdowns during that span.<\/p>\n

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Oct 21, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson (34) celebrates with linebacker Jesse Luketa (43) after recovering a fumble from the Los Angeles Chargers in the first half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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The Cardinals gave him a three-year, $36 million deal following the 2022 season and he has remained a healthy and critical part of the secondary. In 99 career games, Thompson has 397 solo tackles and nine interceptions, both of which he\u2019s top 2 on the teal since his arrival.<\/p>\n

After 3-14 record, fans are ready for a change of guard, which is understandable. However, Thompson\u2019s production, and close relationship with Baker, makes him a critical piece to the secondary group that has many inexperienced cornerbacks in the room. Ossenfort could aim to try to bring back Thompson on a similar deal compared to his 2022 extension.<\/p>\n

Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, and exclusive content. SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE \u2013 The Arizona Cardinals can generate nearly $90 million in cap space this offseason if it cuts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1238,1327,7,4965,2950,12352,262,2949,56,6,252,894,17657],"class_list":{"0":"post-772935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizonacardinals","11":"tag-budda-baker","12":"tag-cardinals","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-glendale","15":"tag-jalen-thompson","16":"tag-jesse-luketa","17":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","18":"tag-monti-ossenfort","19":"tag-new-york-giants","20":"tag-nfl","21":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","22":"tag-saquon-barkley","23":"tag-state-farm-stadium"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116125011010435414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}