Dalvin Tomlinson didn’t sign with the Arizona Cardinals as an NFL free agent because of their uniforms, but the defensive tackle did consider them a nice bonus.

“It’s going to feel like I’m back in Alabama,” Tomlinson said on Friday. “I got this red on again, so I’m ready to go out there.”

Tomlinson said Arizona was like Alabama in more than jersey color; there’re the temperatures, too. Since leaving the Crimson Tide in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Tomlinson has played four seasons with the New York Giants, two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

“It’s been a while,” Tomlinson said of playing for an NFL team in a state that doesn’t border Canada. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been in a lot of cold teams in the NFL. And I can’t forget I was in Alabama, so I know those hot summers and out there working out just trying not to catch a full body cramp and stuff like that, so I’m super excited for it.”

The Cardinals could sign Tomlinson because the Browns released him with two seasons remaining on a four-year, $57 million contract. Cleveland announced Tomlinson’s release on Wednesday. Later in the day came reports that he’d reached an agreement with Arizona.

“Definitely been a whirlwind week, I guess you could say,” Tomlinson said. “I feel like with the NFL, you can never expect everything. You can’t plan ahead, I guess you could say. But, yeah, it was definitely a crazy week.”

Unlike so many of the players released in the NFL, Tomlinson could be sure another team would want to sign him, which the Cardinals did to a two-year, $29 million deal that includes $16 million in guaranteed money.

“I wouldn’t say it makes it easier,” Tomlinson said about getting cut. “It’s always shocking, I guess you can say. You don’t know what team’s going to be interested in you when you realize you’re getting cut from a team and what organizations want you and what schemes you can fit into and things like that. So it was definitely like a, I guess you could say, uncertainty. I like to be a person who knows I got this tomorrow, I know that I got to get this done. So I was like, it was just, I guess you could say, I had little butterflies.”

Tomlinson said coach Jonathan Gannon, defensive coordinator Nick Rallis and Arizona’s defensive system made the Cardinals attractive to him.

“JG and Coach Nick, man, just playing against those guys and knowing them just from the other side of the ball in the games,” Tomlinson said. “And I just see what the team’s done over the last couple years and what they’re growing into. I just feel like I want to be a part of something like that. …

“The scheme, I feel, by watching film and stuff on the scheme, I feel like I could fit into the scheme pretty well and be pretty disruptive in the middle of the defense and just help take it to the next level.”

During the 2024 season, Tomlinson started in 16 games for Cleveland. He recorded a career-low 26 tackles with six tackles for loss, three sacks and a career-high 18 quarterback hits as the Browns posted a 3-14 record a year after going to the playoffs.

“I feel like every year I’m putting up my hand in the dirt, I feel like I’m growing more and more as a player and learning more knowledge,” Tomlinson said. “And I felt like last year, (defensive-line) coach Jacques (Cesaire), too, I got to give credit to him. I felt like he helped me elevate my pass rush and realizing certain things about my pass rush to help me be a half-step quicker and things like that. It goes a long way and increased numbers on QB hits and pressures and stuff like that. Want to turn those into sacks, of course.

“It’s just learning myself as a rusher. And a lot of people will look at Aaron Donald. I was trying to do Aaron Donald moves, but you’re not Aaron Donald. You have to know who you are. So I know I’m a power rusher, and my switch-up is finesse, and people don’t expect the finesse part so it’s catching a lot of more people off-guard and stuff like that. So continue to build up this year.”

Tomlinson has played in 125 regular-season games and two playoff contests. Tomlinson has recorded 342 tackles, 19 sacks, 36 tackles for loss, 67 quarterback hits, seven pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.