Veteran Free Agent OL Justin Pugh Nearing Return From Torn ACL

Garafolo says the next step for Pugh will be setting up visits with teams. As long as he’s recovered and not asking for too much money, there should be a market for Pugh, as NFL teams can never have too many competent offensive linemen. 

Pugh, 33, is a former first-round pick of the Giants back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $8.346 million contract and made a base salary of $1,157,307 for the 2016 season when the Giants elected to pick up Pugh’s fifth-year option.

Pugh later signed a five-year contract worth over $45 million with the Cardinals in 2018. He had one more year left on that deal with a base salary of $8.025 million but agreed to a $4.25 million pay cut last year.

In 2022, Pugh appeared in five games for the Cardinals and made five starts at guard.

We have him listed in our Top 100 Available 2023 NFL Free Agents list.