Austin Keys

Career StatsD

Year	Team	GP	Tkl	Sacks	INT
Career		11	7	1.0	—
2025		11	7	1.0	0

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

Austin Keys' three-year, $3.0M deal with the Cardinals ($1.0M AAV) earns an A CVI grade as an exceptional value signing that exemplifies smart roster building at the linebacker position. Locking up a rotational player at just above veteran minimum with minimal guaranteed money ($0.2M) creates tremendous upside with virtually no downside risk for Arizona. The contract structure is particularly savvy — if Keys develops into more than a rotational contributor, the Cardinals have him locked in at below-market rates, while the low guarantee makes him easily cuttable if he doesn't pan out. At this price point, even maintaining his current rotational status provides solid return on investment, as competent linebacker depth typically commands $2-3M annually in today's market. This is the type of low-risk, high-reward deal that allows teams to allocate bigger money to premium positions while still maintaining quality depth across the roster.

Performance Analysis

Austin Keys is an undrafted rookie linebacker trying to carve out a roster spot with the Arizona Cardinals in just 11 career games. Early returns have earned him a D grade, a difficult but not uncommon starting point for undrafted linebackers finding their footing. Most rookie off-ball linebackers average limited snaps early, but Keys' production remains well below even modest developmental benchmarks. The numbers are stark across every impact category. His 0.64 tackles per game sits dramatically below the NFL average of 3.80, suggesting he's either seeing minimal defensive snaps or struggling to locate the ball. His TFL rate of 0.09 per game versus the league average of 0.40 raises concerns about his ability to defeat blockers and penetrate the backfield. His sack rate of 0.09 per game is below average but at least hints at occasional pass-rush awareness worth monitoring. Keys carries an F grade through the 2025 season, and the trajectory needs to reverse sharply for him to stick on this roster beyond camp. The Cardinals' linebacking corps isn't loaded with proven talent, which leaves a developmental window open if Keys can dramatically improve his tackle efficiency and snap share. Watch for whether Arizona deploys him more aggressively in sub-packages next season as a litmus test for his long-term viability.

Current Sentiment

Austin Keys enters the 2026 season as one of the most anonymous names on the Arizona Cardinals roster, and his D sentiment grade reflects a public profile that is essentially nonexistent outside of transaction wire reports. The entire media narrative surrounding him is administrative — waiver claim announcements, offseason depth chart profiles, and Auburn alumni mentions are the sum total of his coverage, none of it driven by anything he's done between the lines on Sundays. That aligns squarely with his D performance grade and what the 2025 season actually produced: 7 tackles and 1 sack across 11 games, replacement-level output that gives analysts and fans virtually no reason to pay attention. The Cardinals' recent offseason activity — a wave of signings at safety, outside linebacker, guard, tight end, and defensive line — only deepens the noise around Keys, adding more competition and further diluting whatever modest roster leverage he currently holds. At 24 with just one season under his belt, the developmental path isn't impossible, but right now the narrative sits exactly where his production does: at the bottom of the depth chart, generating zero buzz and zero urgency from anyone paying attention to this roster.