Player
Jalen Thompson
S · Cardinals
Jalen Thompson: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Arizona's longest-tenured safety: 7 seasons, 355 solo tackles, 37 PDs, 9 INTs.
TrendThompson by season (Cardinals)
| Season | G | Solo | Asst | TFL | PD | INT | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 12 | 45 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 18 | 75 | 48 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | 17 | 61 | 31 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 15 | 52 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | 15 | 51 | 37 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 15 | 57 | 36 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Thompson — the 5th-round 2019 supplemental draft pick out of Washington State — has outlasted every single coach, GM, and roster reset in Arizona. Across 97 games over 7 seasons he's piled up 355 solo tackles, 37 PDs, and 9 INTs.
He was the 2019 supplemental pick that nobody noticed — Steve Keim's 5th-rounder. Six years later he's the Cardinals' defensive captain and one of the few sub-100K supplemental picks to ever start 75+ games.
A supplemental-draft 5th-rounder who has started 80+ games — that almost never happens.
RareThe 2019 NFL Supplemental Draft was a 6-player event. Thompson — a 5th-round pick by Arizona — is the only one of those 6 still in the league, let alone starting.
Historically, supplemental picks above the 4th round have a hit rate below 15% as long-term starters. Thompson has played 97 career games and started ~80 of them. That's a top-1% outcome for the round.
Career-best 2023 (52 solo, 9 PDs, 4 INTs) earned him a $36M extension.
MilestoneThompson's 2023 line: 52 solo tackles, 19 assists, 9 PDs, 4 INTs, 5 TFLs, 1 FF — was the season that produced the 3-year, $36M extension he signed in 2024.
The 4 INTs in 15 games matched his career best (3 INTs in 2021), and the 9 PDs were a career high. It was also the first season he topped 5 TFLs — a sign of his expanding box-safety role.
After the extension: tackle volume up, splash plays down.
SplitPre-extension vs. post-extension
| Window | G | Solo/G | PD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-2023 | 67 | 3.99 | 28 | 9 |
| 2024-2025 | 30 | 3.60 | 9 | 0 |
The two seasons since the extension have been a different player. Zero INTs across 2024-2025 despite playing 30 games — after averaging 1.4 INTs per healthy season prior. PDs cratered from a 9 in 2023 to 3 in 2024 (career low).
The tackle volume stayed solid (3.60/game), but the playmaking dropped. Some of it is scheme — new DC Nick Rallis has used Thompson more in box-safety and underneath-zone roles. Some of it might be the contract fact-pattern: the splash plays you get when chasing a deal aren't the same as the splash plays after.
2020 sophomore season: just 5 games — and only 14 solo tackles before the injury.
AnomalyThompson's career-best healthy-game pace (4.5+ solo/game in 2021, 3.6 in 2022) makes the 2020 season a glaring outlier: 5 games, 14 solo tackles, no INTs.
He rebounded by playing all 18 games in 2021 — including 2 playoff appearances — and racked up 75 solo tackles, 48 assists, 7 PDs, 3 INTs. That bounce-back from a missed sophomore year is the foundation of his career arc.
Among 2019-draft DBs still on their original team: only Trevon Diggs has played more games.
ComparisonOf every defensive back drafted (or supplemental-drafted) in 2019, only a handful are still starting for the team that picked them. Among those, only Trevon Diggs (DAL) has played more career games than Thompson.
The production resume: 9 INTs, 37 PDs, 355 solo tackles, 9 TFLs in 97 games. The career batters from that DB class — Byron Murphy Jr., Amani Hooker, Juan Thornhill — all moved to other teams. Thompson is the Cardinals' constant.
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