Many teams in the NFL are running thin at the linebacker spot, but the Arizona Cardinals are as thin as they come this year.
2nd year man Kevin Minter will need to fill at least part of the void for the Cards, left by Daryl Washington who is suspended, and Karlos Dansby who plays for the Cleveland Browns now. Minter played just one defensive snap last year, so he is one of those players that coaches are putting faith in, and are in hope that he can meet their expectation.
If he can't, then the team will have to turn another direction, and as CBS's Pat Kerwin points out, linebackers are hard to come by this year.
Pat Angerer, the Colts free agent linebacker, has many offers, according to Fox Sports Alex Marvez, but he wants to be healthy before he works out for any of them.
If the Cardinals are worried about Minter, then it might be a good bet to go ahead and try and work a deal with Angerer. The Colts Linebacker is only 27 and just two seasons removed from being one of the top tacklers in all of football. He had 146 in 2011. At full health he would make for an excellent replacement, if necessary. But there are certainly no guarantees when it comes to his health, either.
According to ESPN, this problem isn't news to Arizona Coach Bruce Arians. He has talked about adding linebacker depth recently.
Angerer's name has to be high on Arian's list, too. Even though Angerer wasn't re-signed by the Indianapolis Colts after the 2013 season, which he finished on Injured Reserve because of a knee injury, he is expected to heal and return to the league. Arians is familiar with Angerer after spending the 2012 season with the Colts before coming over to Arizona.
Trying to find an available, experienced linebacker this offseason that didn't finish the last season on IR is impossible. Besides Angerer, Jon Vilma, Stewart Bradley, Desmond Bishop and Nick Collins are still out there, but all of them finished 2013 on injured reserve and could have lingering health issues.
