Veteran Guard Re-Signs with the Cardinals
Will Hernandez and the Arizona Cardinals have agreed to terms on a contract. The deal, reportedly, is for one year, bringing the Cardinals’ veteran lineman back into the fold. After going through a whole offseason without signing to a team, Hernandez has some work to do, but he’ll certainly be committed. Clearly, the team wanted an established offensive lineman to bring some consistency to their offensive line.
After starting all 49 games in his four seasons at UTEP, Hernandez went into the 2018 NFL Draft as a top-five interior offensive lineman. His exceptional play at the line of scrimmage even earned him Second-Team All-American honors as well as First-Team Conference USA honors through 2016-17. Projected as a late first-round pick, he slipped down to the second round. The Giants weren’t willing to let him fall any further, though, selecting him with the 34th pick in the draft.
Due to being selected so high, it wasn’t a surprise to see Hernandez start every game in his rookie season. He helped fellow rookie and future Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley have one of the best seasons in franchise history. Barkley put together more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since Tiki Barber did it in 2006. That wouldn’t have been accomplished without a great performance running the ball. Barkley’s 1,307 rushing yards in 2018 are eighth all-time in Giants franchise history and likely wouldn’t have been achieved without Hernandez being the only interior lineman to start in every game that season.
After playing out his rookie contract for the Giants, he wasn’t offered a contract extension. Instead, he decided to continue his career in the Grand Canyon State playing for the Cardinals. The Las Vegas, Nevada, native signed a prove-it deal in Arizona, signing a one-year contract with a lesser average salary than his rookie contract back in 2018. Eventually, Hernandez proved himself and inked a second contract to stay with the Cardinals through 2024. This time, he signed a two-year, nine-million-dollar contract with $4.5 million guaranteed. When healthy, he’s proved himself to be a reliable blocker and helped the Cardinals finish with the fourth-most rushing yards in 2023. The only issue has been him staying on the field; he missed four games on injured reserve in 2022, then only played in five games last year due to a torn ACL, which hopefully won’t be an issue as he continues his NFL career.
