Through free agency, 2025 roster re-signings, reserve\/futures contracts, and the recent NFL draft, a total of 23 offensive players, 16 defenders, and four specialists have been signed from the end of the season to this week.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 43 new players that Ossenfort has negotiated with. The roster limit during the season is 53 on the main roster. Even if half of these new guys make the roster, that is a ton of turnover. Not to mention a dozen new assistant coaches.<\/p>\n
With new players, that means the possibility of jobs being taken away.<\/p>\n
Here are four Cardinals veterans who could be on the hot seat to lose their starting positions as the 2026 NFL season begins.<\/p>\n
At the end of last season, Adams was starting at right guard with Evan Brown on the leftside. Will Hernandez was injured, and when he returned in Week 5, he only played six games at right guard before being placed on injured reserve with hip and knee injuries.<\/p>\n
Adams looked really good in training camp last year. But in real games, not against second and third stringers like in preseason contests, he struggled mightily. He was drafted in Round 3 to become the starter, but when he finally got his chance, he did not play well. He ended up with a Pro Football Focus grade of 56.7, which is not exactly what the front office had hoped for when they spent a third-round pick on him.<\/p>\n
During the offseason, Adams was penciled in at right guard. Matt Pryor was signed in free agency and is expected to compete with Adams for the starting nod. Pryor\u2019s Pro Football Focus grade for this past season was a nice 71.6. Make no mistake, this is a very large man. He has long arms with a massive frame.<\/p>\n
But then Ossenfort selected OG Chase Bisontis<\/a> of Texas A&M in the second round.<\/p>\n Bisontis is an exceptional prospect, and he looked like a beast on the first day of rookie mini-camp. Yes, it will be a three-way competition for the starting right guard spot, and in the end, it could mean that Adams is either the backup or could find himself at third-string if he doesn\u2019t ball out in training camp.<\/p>\n This might be pretty obvious. Ossenfort grabbed RB Jeremyiah Love of Notre Dam<\/a>e with the third overall pick in this year\u2019s NFL draft, and a player drafted that high is expected to start right away. Running backs can convert from the college level to the professional ranks seamlessly.<\/p>\n Running back James Conner #6 Getty Images<\/p>\n Conner\u2019s reappearance from his knee injury last year is on track for him to return and be present in training camp. Another cog is the fact that RB Tyler Allgeier was signed during free agency. The thought process there was that Allgeier is an NFL-starting caliber back and would be the safety valve in case both Conner and Trey Benson weren\u2019t ready to go early in the season, or weren\u2019t the same bruising\/speedy backs they once were.<\/p>\n Last year, after both Conner and Benson went down with injuries and ended their seasons on IR, the Cardinals limped to the finish line with backups and practice squad players at running back. Ossenfort doesn\u2019t ever want to see a repeat of that and has prepared going forward.<\/p>\n But now that Love is in the house<\/a>, Conner\u2019s starting position is most likely gone. Love looked like a stud on the first day of rookie mini-camp and has come as advertised. There is a logjam at running back<\/a> for the Cardinals, and most likely, one of the aforementioned three will be shipped off to a RB-needy team. Conner might still be with Arizona in Week 1, but his starting days could be gone.<\/p>\n After being taken in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft out of Ohio State, Simon had nine starts last year and played in 16 games. While at Ohio State, he was their captain and was selected to play in the #0 jersey, commonly called the \u201cBlock O\u201d jersey. Only one player a year is chosen for this defensive distinction to the athlete who exemplifies leadership and character.<\/p>\n Cody Simon #50 of the Arizona Cardinals attempts to tackle Christian McCaffrey #23 of the San Francisco 49ers Getty Images<\/p>\n Simon (6\u2019-2\u201d, 230 pounds) had a pretty good year with 76 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one QB hit, two batted passes, one forced fumble, a half sack, two hurries, and three pressures.<\/p>\n But he also had 13 missed tackles. Simon\u2019s pass coverage needs a lot of work as well. He allowed 28 completions from 41 targets for 259 yards for 68.3% completion ratio.<\/p>\n![\"Running](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2229468250.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Cody](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2247043728.jpg\"\/)
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