Arizona Cardinals Ink Darnell Dockett To Contract Extension

Added on Sep 02, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

The Arizona Cardinals enter the 2010 NFL campaign with no shortage of problems, primarily at the quarterback position. Future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner has retired, and they’ve yet to come up with a replacement that’s even adequate. Coach Ken Whisenhunt has had an irreparable falling out with one potential starter in Matt Leinart, and the team is looking to ship him elsewhere. That leaves Derek Anderson as the starting quarterback by default. Things are in better shape on the other side of the ball and the team no doubt wants to keep it that way. To facilitate this, they’ve signed defensive tackle Darnell Dockett to a lucrative extension.

In addition to having some of the best ink in the NFL, the heavily tatted up Dockett is an exceptional player. He’s a two time Pro Bowler and arguably the best in the league at his position. That’s why Arizona was willing to scratch out a check that will pay him a reported $48 million with $30 million guaranteed over the next four seasons.

Dockett’s newfound approach to his craft and his contract situation should serve as a lesson to other players. He’s complained that he’s worth more money for a couple of years now and sat out the start of last year’s mini-camp with an illusory ‘hamstring injury’. Since then, however, he’s been a model citizen showing up on time for the 2009 training camp and not missing any workouts since then. Coach Whisenhunt’s comments sure make it sound like that was a key consideration in chipping him off so much cheddar:

“The thing that has really made it so apparent that we wanted to get this deal done was his growth as a player and as a person. Where he sits right now in front of you guys, after having a couple of Pro Bowls, after how he works with our team, it’s a little bit different than he was almost four years ago when we started this thing.”

Obviously it’s easier to make comments like this after the deal is done, but Dockett sure sounded like a guy that ‘gets it’ at a presser to announce his contract extension:

“I know a lot of people probably thought I wasn’t going to come to training camp. I made a commitment to players that I was going to be there, like Joey Porter. I told him I would be there and I didn’t want to let him down. Once I put my helmet on and shoulder pads, I can honestly tell you I really didn’t think about contract. I just focused on football and believed they could get it done.”

Good move by the Cardinals—aside from the relatively minor transgression of showering live on Ustream to win a $1000 bet, he’s been a solid citizen and is a beast on the field. Just think of all the badass tats he’ll be able to afford now with an eight figure ATM balance.