Yes, the Cardinals would like to re-sign safety Tony Jefferson. They may have a hard time doing it, however.
The Cardinals have plenty of cap space already devoted to the secondary, with big contracts previously given to cornerback Patrick Peterson and safety Tyrann Mathieu. They need to smooth out the cap burden among all positions, and they can’t afford to get top heavy on the last line of defense.
The franchise tag hasn’t been mentioned as to Jefferson; with the team intending to apply it to pass rusher Chandler Jones (and Jones should decline to do a long-term deal until the tag is applied), they won’t be able to tag Jefferson.
And so Jefferson, who quietly became one of the best safeties in the NFL last season, could be headed for a major payday in a place other than Arizona. Last month, Jefferson admitted that he has put himself in different uniforms in the Madden game to see how it all looks.
It looks like Jefferson will be moving on, unless the Cardinals are willing to over-invest in their secondary at the expense of the rest of the team.