After using their top waiver position on D.J. Swearinger late last season, the Cardinals are releasing the veteran safety, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Unlike last season, when the vested veteran landed on waivers due to being cut after the trade deadline, Swearinger will go straight to free agency. Swearinger has started all four Cardinals games this season, so this move comes as a bit of a surprise.
Washington waived Swearinger in December after his critical comments of the team’s coaching staff. The Cards picked up his contract, a three-year, $13.5MM deal. That pact was set to expire after the 2019 season. The former Texans second-round pick is only in his age-28 season. He has gone through two stints with the Cardinals, having initially played for Arizona from 2015-16.
After viewing Swearinger as one of the NFL’s better safeties from 2016-18, Pro Football Focus has slotted the seventh-year veteran as its No. 73 safety through four Arizona games. He played on 100% of the Cards’ snaps. Rookie Deionte Thompson has only seen 27 snaps; that figure is likely to increase beginning in Week 5. The Cardinals also used a fifth-round supplemental draft pick on Washington State’s Jalen Thompson and signed Chris Banjo last week.
This wasn’t a surprise at all. If you just watched the games you would see he was plain awful.
Eagles need DB help badly because of injuries. Worth a call.
Hard to tell if he was bad because the rest of the team sucked or if it was all him.
Come to Denver
Pff, yeah, if you want to get injured. 😛