The Arizona Cardinals need to address the offensive line in the offseason and have made their first move to do such. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, they have agreed with the Pittsburgh Steelers to acquire veteran right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who was being shopped by Pittsburgh.
It will not cost the Cardinals much. According to Schefter, the Cardinals will give up a late sixth-round pick. They have three picks in that round. Two are in the first six selections of the round and the third is a compensatory pick. That will be the pick they give up to the Steelers, assuming the pick they are giving up is in the 2019 draft.
Gilbert is 31 years old and has played eight seasons in the NFL, all with the Steelers. He has played in 88 games, starting 87 of them. He played in only five games in 2018 because of a knee injury that sent him to injured reserve. He played in only seven the previous season. He was suspended for four games for performance-enhancing substances.
He has connections to Cardinals offensive line coach Sean Kugler, who was his position coach when he first entered the league with the Steelers.
Gilbert is in the final year of his contract and is due a little more than $4.9 million in 2019.
This trade, which will be official on March 13 after the new league year begins, is not unlike the deal the Cardinals made last year with the Denver Broncos. They sent veteran tackle Jared Veldheer, who would also turn 31 before the season and entered the final year of his contract, to the Broncos for a sixth-round pick.
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