Pro Football Focus will be providing analysis for every major NFL signing and trade during the 2015 free-agency period, accounting primarily for the quality of the player and his fit with his new team, and focusing less on the financial terms of the deal.
Here is a grade for the reported deal between Mike Iupati and the Arizona Cardinals, which cannot become official until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Link to grade articles on every major deal
Arizona Cardinals: B-minus
Mike Iupati fits a certain type of offense: he's your prototypical road grading guard, capable of dominating in the run game and exceptional on the move when pull blocking. The Cardinals under Bruce Arians want to run the ball heavily so that's a marriage made in heaven.
Iupati is also a major upgrade over what Arizona has been playing at guard over the past couple of seasons. Iupati had a plus-11.2 PFF grade this season while Arizona's guards combined for a minus-38.1 grade.
What stops this being a home run move is that Iupati does struggle at times in pass-protection, and though the Cardinals don't pass as much as some teams, when they do it is a vertical shot which stresses the pass protection (Drew Stanton led the NFL in average depth of target at 11.7, Palmer was 11th at 9.2).
Iupati surrendered seven sacks in 2014, the most of any guard, and only twelve guards allowed more than his 31 total pressures over the year. He has earned a negative PFF grade for pass protection every year of his NFL career.