Cardinals will follow Seahawks' contracts closely

It appears the Cardinals and Patrick Peterson's agent, Joel Segal, will have a contract template to work with when they start serious negotiations this off-season.

Jason La Canfora of CBSsports.com (@JasonLaCanfora) reported on Monday that the Seahawks were "zeroing in" on a new contract with cornerback Richard Sherman and hoped to have it completed before the draft, May 8-10.

Sherman and Peterson were drafted in 2011, Sherman in the fifth round and Peterson in the first. They are regarded as two of the better young cornerbacks in the NFL, perhaps the two best.

While the Cardinals would like to reach a contract agreement with Peterson this off-season, they are not believed to be in serious negotiations with Segal yet. It's not unusual for such deals to be reached in the summer or shortly before the season starts. In past years, the Cardinals have wanted to get through training camp to see exactly where they were against the cap before re-signing players.

The Seahawks are spending big money to keep one of the NFL's best secondary's intact. On Monday, safety Earl Thomas signed a four-year extension worth $40 million, about $27 million of which is guaranteed.

Cornerbacks, generally, make more money than safeties, so the average of the Peterson/Sherman deals will be north of $10 million.