TEMPE, Ariz. -- Less than an hour after Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said he has not had discussions with players about opting out of the 2020 NFL season, the team had its first player choose not to play.
Right tackle Marcus Gilbert has opted out, sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
Kingsbury said late last month that if Gilbert, who missed last season with an ACL injury, could start camp playing at the level that helped him establish a nine-year career, then he's "going to slide right back in there at right."
A little less than an hour before the news about Gilbert broke, Kingsbury was asked on a videoconference call whether he had talked with any players about opting out.
"I've not had those discussions," Kingsbury said. "That's obviously an area that we respect and understand every person in this league has to do what's best for themselves and their family, and so I think you've seen the league is very understanding of that and want guys to do what they need to do in their own personal lives.
"I've not had those discussions yet but that's something obviously we're open to."
Gilbert has not played a full regular season since 2015 -- with his last four seasons riddled with injuries and suspensions. He's finished the past two years on injured reserve, and he returned for 2020 on a one-year deal for $1.05 million.
Losing Gilbert, however, doesn't hamper the Cardinals' depth at right tackle.
They drafted Josh Jones out of Houston in the third round in April; have Justin Murray, who started 12 games at right tackle last season; and signed Kelvin Beachum, who Kingsbury said can play right or left tackle, in mid-July.
"We're excited about that depth," Kingsbury said. "I think we didn't expect to have Josh around there in the third round. We had him rated a lot higher than that, so to pick him up there was huge.
"We feel like we're in a lot better place this year to start the season than we were last year and that's what you want to see. You want to see that type of progression, particularly with your offensive line."