Cardinals Make Antrel Rolle First Priority

The Arizona Cardinals have many boardroom discussions to attend this offseason, but none more important than, corner turned safety, Antrel Rolle's contract talks.

The Cardinals most immediate priority this offseason is to sign free safety Antrel Rolle.

Rolle is due a $4 million roster bonus in March and without a new deal, his salary will escalate to $12 million in 2010.

Even in a year without a salary cap, that's too steep a price for the Cardinals to pay.

The roster bonus and escalator clause were put into the contract to prompt the team to renegotiate before the last year of Rolle's contract.

That's exactly what the Cardinals intend to do. Rolle, however, might see things a bit differently.

He said several times this season that he doesn't intend to take a pay cut. It's hard to say what that means since the club never intended to pay him $12 million. The Cardinals viewed that level of compensation as a device to get both sides back to the bargaining table.

Rolle is an important part of the team's future, but it's not as if the 2010 season will be lost if the team can't re-sign him.

Drafted as a cornerback, Rolle was below-average at the position and moved to free safety two years ago.

He played well there, especially in the 2009 season. Rolle showed great improvement and with Adrian Wilson, gives the team a solid safety duo.

The Cardinals have some options, however, if Rolle's salary demands are viewed as too high. They want to re-sign Matt Ware, who played in dime situations for the past two years.

Ware played well and while an unrestricted free agent, he would cost far less than Rolle. The Cardinals also drafted Rashad Johnson in the third round last year, although he had a disappointing rookie season.

Click here to order Antrel Rolle's proCane Rookie Card.



(ari.scout.com)