Arizona Cardinals pass rusher Baron Browning passed up a chance at free agency, agreeing to a new two-year contract days before the negotiating window opened.
From the 26-year-old's perspective, he likes where he's at and saw no reason to move.
"If you got a girlfriend who is a 10, why play around?" Browning quipped to the "Cardinals Cover 2" podcast about his reason for returning.
Browning agreed to a two-year contract worth $15 million, with a max value of $19 million. The deal represents a still-growing player with the talent to burst out but one who has dealt with injury and must improve his consistency.
The former third-round pick by Denver in 2021 was traded midseason to Arizona after he missed the early part of the season with a foot injury and was squeezed out of the rotation. He found a home with Jonathan Gannon's club. From Weeks 10-18, Browning generated a 15.9 percent quarterback pressure rate, per Next Gen Stats, the 14th-best mark among edges with at least 100 pass rushes over that span.
"They kind of just let me go play, so that's also a good thing because as a player, you want to be able to go play fast," Browning of the Cardinals.
Pairing Browning with newly signed big-money addition Josh Sweat gives Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis more weapons after needing to generate pressure by bringing extra bodies last year. The moves won't stop Arizona from continuing to beef up the defensive front in the draft.
