The Arizona Cardinals are keeping a budding piece of their defense as they signed defensive back Justin Bethel to an extension deal, with the latter proving his worth being a Pro Bowler (special teams) in the past two seasons.
According to ESPN and NFL.com, Bethel's new contract is worth $15 million with a guaranteed $9 million and $1.8 million in incentives.
Bethel has played in 12 games this season, including two starts, and has 22 tackles and one interception.
Before their 27–3 road to victory over the St. Louis Rams Sunday, Bethel played 210 snaps on defense and was ranked the 25th best cornerback in the National Football League (NFL), according to Pro Football Focus.
Bethel's teammate, free safety Tyrann Mathieu, who is a strong candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award, expressed his belief in the 25-year-old defensive back and compared him to cornerback Patrick Peterson.
Peterson is one of the best defensive players of the Cardinals and in 2014 was signed to a huge seven-year contract worth $83 million.
Bethel has proven to be a surprise for the Cardinals with his improving performance, since he was not really a sought after prospect in his draft class.
The former member of the Presbyterian Blue Hose football program was selected in the sixth round (177th overall) by Arizona in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Now as the Cardinals locked one of their best players in the secondary, they are now bracing for the upcoming playoffs.
Currently, Arizona is leading the National Football Conference (NFC) West with a 10–2 record, winning its last six games and also having a good 3–0 start to the season.
Despite last season's runners-up the Seattle Seahawks thriving as of late and are now at 7–5 for the second spot in the NFC West, the Cardinals' strong performance this season will likely help them keep the top spot in the division heading to the postseason.
