2024 Cardinals roster preview: DL Bilal Nichols

The Arizona Cardinals will open training camp July 23 and begin the process of preparing for the regular season, forming the roster and determining starting jobs and roles on the team.

Leading up to the start of camp, we will take a look at every player on the offseason roster, their background, their contract, their play in 2023, questions they face and their roster outlook.

Next up is defensive lineman Bilal Nichols

Background

Nichols was selected by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2018 draft from Delaware. He played four seasons for the Bears before signing with the Raiders as an unrestricted free agent in 2022. After two seasons in Las Vegas, he signed a three-year contract with the Cardinals this year as a UFA. In six NFL seasons, he has played 94 games with 83 starts including starting all 34 games the last two seasons with the Raiders. In his career, he has 14.0 sacks and 26 tackles for loss.

2023 stats

Last season, Nichols played 54 percent of the defensive snaps and 17 percent on special teams. On defense, he had 48 tackles (25 solo) with four for loss to go with 1.5 sacks, two quarterback pressures, a pass defensed and a fumble recovery.

2024 contract details, cap hit

Nichols’ three-year Cardinals contract is worth $21 million with $12 million guaranteed including a $6 million signing bonus. His 2024 base salary of $2.75 million is guaranteed and he can earn a maximum of $255,000 in per-game ($15,000) roster bonuses. He also had a $50,000 offseason workout bonus. Nichols’ cap charge this year is $5.005 million.

Questions he faces

Nichols hopes to team with Justin Jones for a two-man presence as run-stuffers on the Cardinals defense. He is expected to be on the field a lot and the biggest question might be if he or Jones plays more snaps.

2024 roster outlook

Nichols, like Jones, will be on the 53-man roster and is expected to earn a spot as a starter.

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