Stay or Go? Cardinals Would Love Veteran Tackle Back

Glendale, Ariz.—As the Arizona Cardinals wade into the 2026 off-season with more than $40 million in salary-cap room, one of the quieter but pivotal decisions facing new head coach Mike LaFleur involves a player who has spent half a decade holding the offensive line together: 14-year veteran swing tackle Kelvin Beachum.

Beachum, 36, has started 73 of the 92 games he has appeared in since arriving in the desert six years ago, sliding between left and right tackle whenever injury or performance demanded it. The SMU product contemplated retirement last spring before opting for one more season; now, with his contract expired, both sides are again weighing whether a seventh year in cardinal red makes sense.

The Cardinals’ tackle situation offers little clarity. Paris Johnson Jr. has solidified the left edge, but the right side remains unsettled after Jonah Williams’ two-year tenure—15 games played, zero games finished—failed to justify his price tag. Williams’ departure in free agency leaves a vacancy that Arizona is expected to address either in the open market or with the No. 3 overall pick in April’s draft.

Even so, Beachum’s value lies less in every-down duty than in reliability: a seasoned insurance policy who can stabilize a room, push younger players, and, if pressed, keep the pocket clean for 60 minutes. He earned $4 million in 2025, and people inside the organization say a similar one-year arrangement would be palatable for a franchise that prizes continuity along a perpetually shuffled line.

Beachum, for his part, has not tipped his hand. Retirement remains on the table, but the Cardinals have made plain they would welcome him back. In a league where capable tackle depth is scarce, the courtship of a known commodity could be the simplest move of an otherwise complicated off-season.

Arizona’s brain trust will continue surveying the tackle market and scouting top draft prospects, yet the easiest answer to their right-side question may already be familiar with the playbook—and the desert heat.