NFL Workouts: Ross, Austin, Butler
Despite adding star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins back to the active roster and acquiring former Panthers wide out Robbie Anderson for a pair of draft picks, the Cardinals worked out another receiver yesterday in John Ross, according to Field Yates of ESPN. While many viewed Anderson as a replacement for the lost production of draft day acquisition Marquise Brown, who faces a potential multi-week absence, the speedy Ross would be a better match, in terms of skill set, to team up with diminutive wide outs Rondale Moore and Greg Dortch to replace Brown’s ability.
A former top ten draft pick for the Bengals in 2017, Ross is widely considered not to have lived up to his draft stock. After missing the majority of his rookie season with knee and shoulder issues, Ross was still able to salvage some bright spots in his second and third seasons, reaching career highs for touchdowns with seven in 2018 and receiving yards with 506 in 2019. Despite showing some promise, injuries continued to drag the young wide out down. Over the final two years of his contract, Ross missed 21 games, leading him towards free agency. He signed with the Giants last year and appeared in 10 games, catching 11 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown.
Here are a couple of other workouts reported around the league, starting with Brown’s former home in Baltimore:
- After losing second-year wide receiver Rashod Bateman to injury for the past two weeks, the Ravens were looking to add some receiving depth recently, as well. This desire resulted in the practice squad addition of veteran DeSean Jackson, but, according to Yates, Baltimore auditioned another veteran wide out in Tavon Austin. The former long-time Ram has spent the last four seasons since leaving Los Angeles with three other teams. Austin has seen quite a down-sized role since his heyday as a starter with the Rams, but showed a big-play ability in Dallas, averaging 15.1 yards per reception as a Cowboy three seasons ago. With Jackson now on the practice squad, Austin will likely have to keep searching for his fifth NFL squad.
- The Seahawks worked out a former first round pick in defensive tackle Vernon Butler yesterday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Butler waited until the final year of his rookie contract with the Panthers to play up to his draft stock, racking up 6.0 sacks, 7.0 tackles for loss, 32 tackles, and three forced fumbles, which all still stand as career highs by quite a bit. Butler signed a two-year contract with the Bills after leaving Carolina but failed to match the production from his best year with the Panthers. He’s available after failing to make the Raiders’ final 53-man roster and looks to add some depth to a minorly banged up Seahawks defensive line.
Cardinals G Justin Pugh Out For Season
Justin Pugh joined Rodney Hudson in considering retirement this offseason. In order to continue his career, the veteran guard will now need to go through an extensive rehab effort. Pugh is believed to have torn an ACL, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets.
While Pugh has a notable injury history, this will be his shortest NFL season. Pugh, 32, missed the Cardinals’ opener because of a neck injury. This five-game season will also close out the veteran offensive lineman’s contract, which he signed in 2018. The 10th-year veteran’s latest setback obviously hurts his value for a potential free agency run in 2023.
Arizona paid up for Pugh four years ago, giving him a five-year, $45MM contract to head west. The former Giants first-rounder has now played five seasons with two teams. Pugh’s Arizona commitment ended up giving Kyler Murray a long-term interior presence; the Syracuse alum has 119 career starts under his belt.
The Giants struggled to assemble quality lines during Eli Manning‘s final seasons, but Pugh was part of five New York fronts, working as a guard and at right tackle. Pugh suffered a midseason injury during his first Cardinals campaign — that one also a knee malady — but he was mostly healthy during Murray’s rookie-contract seasons. Pugh played 45 games from 2019-21, being the team’s interior constant as Murray grew into a Pro Bowler.
Pugh agreed to a pay cut during the 2021 offseason, but after a 2022 salary reduction, the Syracuse product said he contemplated retirement. Hudson also did so, but the veteran center reported to Cards training camp as well. This injury hurts one of the league’s most experienced O-lines, a unit that headed into the season housing a 12th-year center, a 10th-year left guard, an 11th-year right tackle (Kelvin Beachum) and an eighth-year left tackle (D.J. Humphries).
Pro Football Focus ranks Pugh as this season’s No. 36 overall guard. The Cardinals are seeing a nice bounce-back season from free agent flier Will Hernandez, whom PFF slots in the top 20. Max Garcia replaced Pugh against the Seahawks; the eighth-year vet started 11 games last season. Pugh’s injury also makes the Cards’ decision to trade for Cody Ford a bit more important. Arizona designated Ford for return Tuesday and could activate him at any point in the next three weeks.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/18/22
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: TE MyCole Pruitt
Baltimore Ravens
- Designated for return from IR: TE Charlie Kolar
Carolina Panthers
- Signed off Cardinals’ practice squad: LB Chandler Wooten
Chicago Bears
- Promoted: WR Isaiah Coulter
- Waived: WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: LB Dakota Allen
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: WR Blake Proehl
New England Patriots
- Placed on IR: S Cody Davis
New Orleans Saints
- Designated for return from IR: CB Alontae Taylor
Washington Commanders
- Released from IR: OL Willie Beavers
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/18/22
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: LB Blake Lynch
- Released: WR Stanley Berryhill
Atlanta Falcons
- Released: DT Kobe Smith
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: LB Brandon Copeland, LB Julian Stanford
- Released: LB Jeremiah Attaochu, WR Slade Bolden
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: RB Spencer Brown, DE Delontae Scott, DT Raequan Williams
- Released: TE Josh Babicz, DE Austin Larkin, TE John Lovett
Chicago Bears
- Signed: TE Sammis Reyes
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Brandon Johnson
- Released: TE Dalton Keene
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: S Innis Gaines
- Released: CB Benjie Franklin, LB Ray Wilborn
Houston Texans
- Signed: S C.J. Moore
- Released: CB BoPete Keyes
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR DeMichael Harris
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: WR Deionte Thompson
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: LS Kyle Nelson
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: RB La’Mical Perine
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: S Myles Dorn
- Released: S Mike Brown
New England Patriots
- Released: K Tristan Vizcaino
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: QB Jake Luton, DE Jabari Zuniga
- Released: DT Christian Ringo
New York Jets
- Signed: OL Conor McDermott
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: RB Jason Huntley, WR Josh Malone
- Released: S Scott Nelson
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: QB Kurt Benkert, CB Ka’dar Hollman
- Released: LB Buddy Johnson, K Sam Sloman
Seattle Seahawks
- Released: WR Kevin Kassis
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released: OL Justin Skule
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DB Kyron Brown, DB Steven Parker
- Released: DB Nate Brooks
Washington Commanders
- Released: DT Donovan Jeter
Cardinals Sign K Rodrigo Blankenship, Designate OL Cody Ford For Return
Matt Prater has missed the Cardinals’ past two games. If he is unable to go in Arizona’s short week, the team will roll out a third (fourth if Eno Benjamin‘s emergency kickoffs are counted) kicker this season.
A day after releasing Matt Ammendola from their practice squad, the Cardinals replaced him with Rodrigo Blankenship. Should a promotion to the team’s 55-man gameday roster ensue, this will be Blankenship’s first action since the Colts cut him earlier this season. Prater, who is battling a hip injury, has not practiced this week.
The Colts made Blankenship their full-time Adam Vinatieri successor in 2020, but a 2021 injury and a rough start to this season changed the organization’s plans. The 2019 Lou Groza award winner while at Georgia, who played one game with the Colts this season, worked out for the Cardinals earlier this month. But the team signed Ammendola, using the brief Chief as its Prater fill-in. Ammendola, who has been with three teams since August, is now out to make room for Blankenship.
In addition to missing a game-tying field goal try against the Eagles, Ammendola missed an extra point against the Seahawks on Sunday. Blankenship missed an overtime field goal in the Colts’ season-opening tie and sent two kickoffs out of bounds in that game. The Colts’ primary kickoff man, punter Rigoberto Sanchez, being on IR forced Blankenship into the kickoff role for that contest. During his full season with the Colts in 2020, Blankenship went 32 of 37 on field goals and 43 of 45 on PATs.
Additionally, the Cardinals designated guard Cody Ford for return. The fourth-year blocker has not yet debuted for his new team, having suffered an ankle injury not long after the Cards acquired him from the Bills. Ford can be activated before this week’s game, but Arizona has three weeks from today to make that transaction. If Ford is not activated in that span, he reverts to season-ending IR. The Cardinals have used two of their eight allotted injury activations thus far.
Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury Could Cede Play-Calling Duties
2022 has not gone according to plan for the Cardinals, especially on offense. With the unit struggling to a highly unexpected degree, head coach Kliff Kingsbury acknowledged that he is contemplating a move many – including himself – would not have thought realistic until recently. 
[RELATED: Cardinals Activate DeAndre Hopkins]
When speaking to the media on Monday, Kingsbury was asked about the possibility of him ceding play-calling duties on offense. “I am open to anything that helps us score more points and helps us win,” he responded. “We will see where it all goes, but yeah, whatever it takes to win, I’m all for it.”
Kingsbury’s arrival in Arizona came with high expectations, given his background on offense in the college ranks and his ties to quarterback Kyler Murray. He has called plays throughout his three-plus year tenure; over that span, the offense made incremental progress for one season to the next, improving from 16th in the league in scoring in 2019 to 11th in 2021.
This year, however, the unit has struggled considerably. The 2-4 Cardinals rank 22nd in scoring, averaging 19 points per game. In two of the past three contests, the team has failed to score an offensive touchdown. That marks a departure from the past two seasons, where Arizona had started campaigns very well, then trailed off in the latter stages of the season. Absences (via injury and suspension) have left the team without its full array of skill-position players to date, but Kingsbury has come under increasing scrutiny for the Cardinals’ inefficient play.
While the receiver corps will get DeAndre Hopkins back as early as this Thursday, it lost Marquise Brown to a foot injury during last week’s loss to the Seahawks. That opened the door to Arizona’s acquisition of Robbie Anderson, who could provide complimentary production as a vertical threat. How the team implements those new pieces into a middling passing attack will be worth monitoring.
Kingsbury, 43, signed an extension this offseason keeping him (along with general manager Steve Keim) on the books through 2027. Murray, too, is on a long-term, high-priced deal for the foreseeable future, so a change in play-caller could be the most significant offensive change possible short of a firing in Kingsbury’s case. The fact that he flatly rejected that notion last season speaks to the desperation he and the team now face as they look to climb out of the NFC West’s basement.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/17/22
Here are Monday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: LB Devon Kennard
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: Vyncint Smith, TE Jalen Wydermyer
- Released: TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart
Miami Dolphins
- Released: RB ZaQuandre White
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: WR C.J. Board
- Released: WR Josh Gordon
Judging by Gordon’s minimal playing time at his fifth NFL stop, it certainly looks like he is nearing the end. Gordon signed with the Titans shortly after he did not make the Chiefs’ 53-man roster, and while Tennessee used the former All-Pro in two games, Gordon logged six snaps and did not catch a pass. Gordon, 31, has five receptions over the past two seasons. Board spent the past two seasons with the Giants; he caught 15 passes for 152 yards with the team in that span.
The Cardinals released Kennard multiple times this year, the first such transaction coming just before cutdown day. While the team circled back to the Phoenix native previously, the veteran pass rusher is now Baltimore-bound. Kennard, 31, signed a three-year, $20MM Cardinals deal in 2020 but did not deliver much production and accepted a pay cut this offseason. Kennard did not record a sack in 15 games last season, but the 11-year veteran did post back-to-back seven-sack slates during the 2018 and ’19 campaigns with Detroit. He will join a Ravens team that has added both Jason Pierre-Paul and Jeremiah Attaochu during the season.
Cardinals Activate WR DeAndre Hopkins, Waive K Matt Ammendola
The Cardinals’ wide receiver situation has changed considerably this year. Trades and unavailability keep updating Kyler Murray‘s aerial personnel, but his top weapon is on his way back.
Arizona activated DeAndre Hopkins on Monday, waiving kicker Matt Ammendola to make room on its 53-man roster. Hopkins, who served a six-game PED suspension, will begin his third Cardinals season Thursday night against the Saints.
Kliff Kingsbury said Hopkins is not expected to be on a snap count. That will be good news for a scuffling Cardinals offense and a receiving chomping at the bit to resume his career. Hopkins, 30, has not played since Week 13 of last season.
This offseason brought in Marquise Brown, acquired for a package headlined by a first-round pick, but the Brown-Hopkins tandem’s crossover continues to be delayed. Hopkins’ May PED ban meant Brown would be bumped up in Arizona’s receiver hierarchy, and just as Hopkins returns, Brown will miss several weeks due to a foot fracture. The Cardinals have played without A.J. Green and Rondale Moore for stretches and lost Antoine Wesley for the season due to a quadriceps tear. Brown’s injury prompted the Cards to swing a trade for Robbie Anderson.
Arizona’s 22nd-ranked offense produced just three points against a struggling Seahawks defense; Hopkins’ availability will be critical to potential improvement. Hopkins only missed two games during his seven-season Texans tenure — a span that produced three straight first-team All-Pro nods — and caught a career-high 115 passes for 1,407 yards in a second-team All-Pro slate to start his Cardinals career. But a hamstring injury and an MCL sprain limited the star pass catcher to 11 games in 2021. That significantly affected the Cards’ offense, and another late-season swoon commenced.
Hopkins’ contract runs through 2024. His $27.25MM-per-year average made a notable impact on the receiver market this year, but the 10th-year veteran’s cap number spikes from $15.7MM in 2022 to $30.75MM in 2023. The Cards could adjust that, as no void years are presently attached to this deal, but some questions have emerged about Hopkins’ status with the team beyond this season. For now, however, it will be all systems go for Hopkins, who will team with Anderson as the 2-4 Cardinals attempt to move back on track.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/17/22
Today’s minor moves around the league:
Buffalo Bills
- Released: LB Andre Smith
Carolina Panthers
- Signed (off Cardinals’ practice squad): LB Chandler Wooten
Denver Broncos
- Elevated: LS Mitchell Fraboni, S Anthony Harris
Green Bay Packers
- Claimed off waivers (from Colts): OL Luke Tenuta
Houston Texans
- Designated for return: TE Teagan Quitoriano
Kansas City Chiefs
- Waived: DB Dicaprio Bootle
Los Angeles Chargers
- Elevated: WR Michael Bandy, T Foster Sarell
Miami Dolphins
- Placed on IR: CB Nik Needham (story)
Minnesota Vikings
- Activated from reserve/PUP list: WR Blake Proehl
- Waived: S Myles Dorn
New Orleans Saints
- Waived: WR Kawaan Baker
New York Jets
- Promoted: T Mike Remmers
- Released: T Conor McDermott
Tennessee Titans
- Signed (off Jaguars’ practice squad): S Josh Thompson
- Placed on IR: LB Ola Adeniyi
Cardinals To Acquire WR Robbie Anderson From Panthers
One day after his noteworthy mid-game exit, many expected Panthers wideout Robbie Anderson to be suiting up for a new team in the very near future. To little surprise, Carolina has indeed moved on, trading him to the Cardinals (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport). ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the Panthers will receive a 2024 sixth-round pick, along with a seventh-rounder in 2025. 
Anderson was sent to the locker room by interim head coach Steve Wilks after multiple heated exchanges on the sidelines. The incident was precipitated by Anderson being taken off the field prior to a third-down play, something which led to him saying after the game that he was “confused” by the move. While he publicly stated that he would be willing to remain in Carolina, it was widely expected that Sunday’s loss to the Rams would mark his final game with the Panthers.
The former UDFA spent four years with the Jets to begin his career. His prowess as a deep threat (averaging 14.8 yards per catch), along with his chemistry with Sam Darnold, led to heightened expectations upon his arrival in Carolina. Reunited with Matt Rhule, his coach at Temple, Anderson posted career-highs in receptions (95) and yards (1,046) in 2020.
The 29-year-old has not been able to match those totals since, however. Last season, Anderson’s receiving totals fell to 519 yards; in 2022, he has posted 206 on 13 catches. Especially after Rhule was fired last week, then, Anderson began to be shopped by the Panthers and was considered a likely trade candidate. As Rapoport’s colleague Tom Pelisero tweets, the Cardinals will be responsible for the remaining $690K in Anderson’s 2022 salary, though he is also under contract for next year at a cap hit of $21.7MM.
From Arizona’s perspective, this move provides depth to a WR room which is in flux. All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins is set to return from his PED suspension, which is expected to provide a significant boost to the team’s offense. However, top deep threat Marquise Brown was seen in a walking boot after yesterday’s loss to the Seahawks, leaving his availability in the short-term future in question. Schefter notes that further testing will be required later today to determine the extent of the offseason trade acquisition’s absence (Twitter link).
With a notable role seemingly available for him right away, Anderson can begin his Arizona tenure as early as this Thursday against the Saints. Given the Cardinals’ struggles finding consistency on offense, he could play a part in stabilizing the team’s passing game while looking to rebuild his value.