Free agent Mack Wilson Sr. reportedly leaves Patriots for Cardinals
Mar 11, 2024, 2:58 PM | Updated: 3:53 pm
Mack Wilson Sr. #3 of the New England Patriots sacks Trevor Siemian #14 of the New York Jets in the first quarter at Gillette Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
The Arizona Cardinals and free agent linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. agreed to a three-year contract on Monday, reports ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
The deal is worth $12.8 million in total and up to $15 million with incentives, adds NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Wilson, a 2019 fifth-round pick out of Alabama, is 6-foot-1 and 246 pounds.
He piled up 37 tackles with 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles last season but also added three passes defensed despite playing only 27% of the available defensive snaps. He’s a versatile player who played nearly as many pass-rush snaps (108) as coverage snaps (102) last season for the Patriots, according to Pro Football Focus.
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Wilson had plus grades last season as a coverage player capable of tracking tight ends and running backs and as a run-defender, according to PFF. He could find time with Arizona on a team lacking solidified pass-rushers and without coverage linebackers behind Kyzir White.
Wilson spent the past two years with the New England Patriots and the three prior seasons with the Cleveland Browns, where he was on a team that included then-Browns tight ends coach Drew Petzing, who is now Arizona’s offensive coordinator.
Wilson was most productive as a rookie in 2019, tallying 82 tackles and seven passes defensed with four stuffed that year.
The Cardinals reportedly opened the free-agency negotiating period this year by agreeing to sign cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting and defensive tackles Justin Jones and Balil Nichols, all of whom are on similar three-year deals and project as starters.
