Cardinals Sign LB Sean Weatherspoon; Grade and Analysis

On Sunday night the Arizona Cardinals agreed on a year deal with former Atlanta Falcons star linebacker Sean Weatherspoon.

Yahoo! Sports inside Rand Getlin broke the news late Sunday night into Monday morning:

Here’s a little background information about Sean Weatherspoon’s career via our George Stockburger:

"Coming off a ruptured achilles tendon, Weatherspoon has a lot to prove. While he is still relatively young at 27, the wear and tear on his body is catching up to him and affecting his overall performance. In 2013, he only played in seven games, just two seasons after a career high 115 total tackles. Expect Weatherspoon to be a guy teams can get on the cheap late as an alternative to the high-priced prizes, such as Jason Worlids."

Sean Weatherspoon is a great fit with the Cardinals defense. Daryl Washington (off the field issues) and Larry Foote (age) have uncertain futures with the Cardinals. Bringing in a talented, vocal leader like Sean Weatherspoon makes a lot of sense.

The only issues with Weatherspoon is his injury history — he’s played in only seven games over the past two season and missed all of 2014. When healthy, he’s shown that he can be an impact defender at the NFL level. If he can stay healthy, the Cardinals will have found a phenomenal upgrade in the middle of their defense — all for a one year “prove it” deal. Sounds like a great deal to me.

Grade: B

This is a good move by the Cardinals. Sean Weatherspoon has the ability to play inside in the Cardinals 3-4 defense and will provide insurance in case Daryl Washington and Larry Foote don’t return. With this pick, the Cardinals may have eliminated inside linebacker from their postseason needs — another good move during the Bruce Arians tenure.

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