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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Cardinals To Re-Sign Corey Peters

August 2nd, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It looks like Corey Peters is headed back to the desert after all. The veteran defensive tackle is expected to sign a one-year deal with the Cardinals, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Howard Balzer was first to tweet that a deal was likely.

We had heard in early June that the two sides were still discussing a new contract, but nothing materialized at the time. Now a little ways into training camp, it finally happened. A third-round pick of the Falcons back in 2010, Peters has been with the Cardinals since 2015. A knee injury limited him to only nine games last year, but he started all 16 for Arizona the year before.

Although mostly a run-stuffer up the middle, he’s had at least a couple of sacks each of the last three seasons. Now on the tail-end of a solid career, Peters turned 33 back in June. In addition to his work in the defensive front, Peters is also a locker room leader.

“He was tremendous for us on and off the field, one of the great leaders in our locker room,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury had said a couple of months ago. Coming off a torn patella tendon at his relatively advanced age, it’s unclear if he’ll play as big of a role on the field in 2021.

Jordan Hicks On Reduced Role With Cardinals

August 1st, 2021 at 12:55pm CST by Rory Parks

It’s been a difficult offseason for Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks. He accepted a substantial pay cut in March, and then he watched his club select LB Zaven Collins with the No. 16 overall pick of the draft. Shortly thereafter, the team announced that Collins would take over Hicks’ starting ILB role, and Hicks was given permission to seek a trade.

Hicks appreciated the fact that the Cardinals were upfront with him about their plan, and that they agreed to work with him to find a trade partner, but he understandably hoped that he would have a legitimate opportunity to compete for a starting job.

“I respected the fact that [GM Steve Keim] told me straight up [that Collins would be starting],” Hicks said (via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com). “I respected the fact that he told me he was going to work with me to try to honor a trade. And, so, there’s a part of you that respects that, but then there’s a part that just wishes you had had an opportunity to compete, which is all I asked for.”

It is somewhat curious that Arizona has already given a rookie a starting job over an established veteran like Hicks. Since joining the Cardinals as a free agent in 2019, the 29-year-old has started all 32 games for the club, and while Pro Football Focus’ metrics have not been especially high on his work, he has been among the league leaders in tackles.

On the other hand, Collins certainly offers more upside, and the fact that there has been no reported interest in Hicks from rival clubs despite his eminently reasonable salary suggests that the Cardinals are making the right call. At the time of the trade request, we heard that a swap was not particularly likely, and that is how things have played out thus far. Still, underperformance or an injury elsewhere might lead to a new opportunity for Hicks.

In the meantime, he is mentoring Collins and second-year ‘backer Isaiah Simmons to the best of his ability. He says he has been impressed with Collins and is excited about the 2021 campaign, but he was clear about his preference to be a starter somewhere.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/29/21

July 29th, 2021 at 5:34pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Houston Texans

  • Signed: WR Jordan Veasy

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: OT Chidi Okeke
  • Waived: OT Calvin Ashley

Tennessee Titans

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Bud Dupree; Dupree remains on Tennessee’s active/PUP list as well

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/27/21

July 27th, 2021 at 5:42pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ve collected today’s minor moves below:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Football Team

Cardinals To Sign Daryl Worley

July 26th, 2021 at 5:38pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

On the eve of training camp, the Cardinals are adding some depth to their secondary. Arizona is expected to sign free agent cornerback Daryl Worley, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.

Worley worked out for the team on Monday, and they apparently liked what they saw. Worley bounced around a bit last season, and started his career as a third-round pick of the Panthers back in 2016. He started 11 games as a rookie in Carolina, and then 14 the following year. Traded to the Eagles the next offseason in exchange for Torrey Smith, he was then released by Philly after getting arrested.

He quickly signed with the Raiders, and after serving a four-game suspension became a starter for them. Worley started 15 games for the Raiders in 2019, which earned him a $3MM contract from the Cowboys last offseason. He appeared in seven games with Dallas and started four, but was cut in October along with a couple other members of their struggling defense.

He then had short stints with the Bills and Raiders again to close the season. Although he seemingly has a fair amount of tread on his tires, the West Virginia product only turned 26 earlier this year.

It can never hurt to have too much experience, and Worley has 54 NFL starts under his belt. The Cardinals’ cornerbacks room received a big makeover this offseason, as the team let Patrick Peterson walk while adding Malcolm Butler and Darqueze Dennard.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/26/21

July 26th, 2021 at 9:48am CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here.

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Signed: WR Reece Horn

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

  • Placed on IR: DT Rob Windsor (out for year)

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

  • Signed: TE Carson Meier
  • Cut with injury settlement: TE Jibri Blount

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: DB Chris Cooper

Tennessee Titans

Chandler Jones Requested Trade

July 25th, 2021 at 12:57pm CST by Zachary Links

Cardinals star pass rusher Chandler Jones requested a trade this offseason, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Jones is said to be unhappy with his contract situation — which has apparently been the case for a while now — and while the club expects him to report to camp, it remains a situation worth monitoring. 

Jones flirted with a holdout during minicamp in June, putting pressure on the front office for a new pact. Still, his decision took many by surprise, given his track record of showing up to practice and participating in all of the offseason’s voluntary work. Jones, 31, is currently set to enter the final year of his contract. As it stands, he’s scheduled to make $15.5MM. Given his age, he won’t beat Joey Bosa‘s five-year, $135MM re-up, but a shorter deal in the $20MM AAV neighborhood would make sense.

The Cardinals do not want to trade Jones, Fowler hears. Still, the three-time Pro Bowler is sending a clear message — he won’t be a happy camper unless the team pays him what he’s worth.

After acquiring him from the Patriots in 2016, the Cardinals gave Jones a five-year, $82.5MM deal in 2017. During his first four seasons in Arizona, Jones didn’t miss a game while averaging 15 sacks per season. He appeared in the first five games of 2020, collecting 11 tackles, one sack, and seven QB hits. However, a torn bicep forced him to miss the rest of the season. That didn’t help his leverage, but he’s doing a good job to try and recoup some of it this summer.

Rory Parks contributed to this post.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/23/21

July 23rd, 2021 at 5:21pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

  • Signed: CB Cre’Von LeBlanc
  • Waived: DE Nick Coe, LS Rex Sunahara

New England Patriots

  • Signed: TE David Wells

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL: Unvaccinated Players Could Lead Forfeited Games 

July 23rd, 2021 at 8:36am CST by Zachary Links

The NFL isn’t forcing players to get vaccinated, but they are finding other ways to encourage it. In a memo to teams, the league explained that teams with outbreaks among unvaccinated players will be required to forfeit if their game cannot be rescheduled inside of the 18-week season (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The forfeit would impact playoff seeding for the team. And, in that event, players would be paid for the game.

“If a game is cancelled/postponed because a club cannot play due to a Covid spike among or resulting from its non-vaccinated players/staff, then the burden of the cancellation or delay will fall on the club experiencing the Covid infection,” the NFL said in the memo. “We will seek to minimize the burden on the opposing club or clubs. If a club cannot play due to a Covid spike in vaccinated individuals, we will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams.”

“We do not anticipate adding a ’19th week’ to accommodate games that cannot be rescheduled within the current 18 weeks of the regular season.”

Furthermore, the team responsible for the cancellation would be responsible for covering costs. There could also be additional discipline from the league office.

Every team has at least 50% of its players vaccinated, Pelissero hears. Presumably, teams will be working harder than ever to get the number towards 100%.

The new guidelines weren’t received well by everyone. Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was among those to speak out on social media in a since-deleted tweet.

“Never thought I would say this, But being in a position to hurt my team because I don’t want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the NFL,” Hopkins wrote.

Cardinals Waive OL Lamont Gaillard

July 21st, 2021 at 5:49pm CST by Ben Levine

Lamont Gaillard‘s stint in Arizona has come to an end. The Cardinals waived the center today, according to veteran reporter Howard Balzer. The move will save the organization about $800K in 2021 and $900K in 2022.

The 2019 sixth-round pick out of Georgia didn’t appear in a single game during his rookie season, but he was able to secure a role on the 2020 squad. Gaillard ultimately saw time in 13 games with two starts, appearing in 19-percent of his team’s offensive snaps. The 25-year-old also appeared in 16-percent of his team’s special teams snaps.

The Cardinals have completely revamped their center position this offseason. The team acquired Rodney Hudson in a trade with the Raiders, and that ultimately led to the trade of former starter Mason Cole, who was dealt to the Vikings. Gaillard would have been competing for the same rotational/backup spot in 2021, but seventh-round rookie Michal Menet will now have the inside track at the gig.

As Balzer notes, the team could still be in the market for another center. The Cardinals are currently rostering only 14 offensive lineman, a modest number for training camp.

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