“Mutual Interest” Between Packers OLB Mike Neal and Arizona

Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com has confirmed the rumblings that there is “mutual interest” between the Cardinals and impending free agent OLB Mike Neal.

• Last week, Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Cardinals are among a few NFL teams with interest in Neal this offseason.
• Weinfuss notes that there are “a bunch of other teams” interested as well.

One of those teams is likely the Packers, who are expected to prioritize re-signing their free agents this offseason, so it seems likely that they could extend him an offer at some point.

Arizona does appear to be a good fit.  They could use some depth at the outside linebacker positions to go along with 2013 sack leader OLB John Abraham who totaled 11.5 in his first year with the Cardinals.  Abraham, however, is 35 years old, and has only one year left under his current deal.

Neal, 26, will be an unrestricted free agent this March and should have a decent enough market that he could secure a mid-level contract, despite being rated as a below average 3-4 outside linebacker last season by Pro Football Focus.  Even so, Neal still produced five sacks, 49 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble for Green Bay while making a tough transition to outside linebacker.

We have him listed as the No. 84 player in our Top 100 Free Agents list.