Here are today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Las Vegas Raiders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Redskins
The Cardinals will bring back two role players from Kliff Kingsbury‘s first season in charge. Guard Max Garcia and safety Charles Washington signed to stay with Arizona.
Garcia has seen his responsibilities gradually reduced as his career has gone along, but the five-year veteran has logged 41 starts and profiles as one of the NFL’s most experienced second-string offensive linemen entering the 2020 season.
The Broncos used Garcia as a rotational guard during their 2015 Super Bowl season and as a 16-game starter in 2016 and ’17, but by 2018, the former fourth-round pick started just four games and saw an injury end his contract-year campaign. He signed with the Cardinals for one year and $2MM last March. This pact will likely be for a similar amount, seeing as Garcia played in seven games and started none in his Arizona debut. The Cards, however, employ injury-prone starting guards in Justin Pugh and J.R. Sweezy, so it makes sense to have an experienced backup.
This will also be Washington’s second Cardinals season. The former UDFA spent two years with the Lions before signing with the Cards in 2019. He did not see any defensive snaps but played on 45% of Arizona’s special teams plays.
Before the Texans dealt DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals, the Patriots pursued the All-Pro wideout. So did the Eagles, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com said during an interview with Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic (Twitter link). The Eagles passed on going deep into talks, however, which makes sense given their commitments to Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson. Hopkins also wants a new deal in the $20MM-per-year range, in which Amari Cooper (zero All-Pro honors). The Eagles’ view of the much-hyped 2020 wide receiver class affected a potential Hopkins pursuit, Tim McManus of ESPN.com adds.
This impacted the Texans’ trade, with Albert Breer of SI.com adding that Hopkins wanted a raise instead of an extension. He is under contract through 2022 — on a $16.2MM-per-year deal that has dropped from first to eighth among wide receivers. Hopkins had also become a bit of a locker room issue in Houston, per Breer, who adds that the Texans may have been reluctant to reward the 27-year-old star because of the message it would have sent. This process came as a bit of a surprise to the Cardinals, whom Breer notes did not engage in Hopkins discussions with the Texans at the Combine.
A Cardinals waiver claim last year, Jonathan Bullard agreed to remain with the team after a short stay in free agency. The Cardinals announced they re-signed the defensive lineman on a one-year deal.
Bullard started six games for the Cards last season, registering 22 tackles (four for loss) and 1.5 sacks. He ended the season on IR due to a hamstring injury.
The Bears cut the former third-round pick before the 2019 regular season began; the Florida product worked as a rotational player in Chicago before ascending into Arizona’s starting lineup.
The Cardinals lost Rodney Gunter to the Jaguars in free agency but signed former Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. But be it in a starting or rotational role, Bullard is set to be back as a contributor for the Cardinals up front in his fifth NFL season.
The Cardinals are re-signing QB Brett Hundley, the team announced. Hundley joined Arizona last March after serving as Russell Wilson‘s clipboard holder in Seattle in 2018.
Hundley, who at one time was viewed as a potential starter, has settled in as a QB2. He was drafted by the Packers in the fifth round of the 2015 draft and saw his most extended action in 2017, when Aaron Rodgers was lost to injury. Hundley went 3-6 in his nine starts for Green Bay that year, and the Packers traded him to the Seahawks in August 2018 in exchange for a sixth-round selection.
The former UCLA standout was Kyler Murray‘s backup for Murrary’s rookie campaign in 2019, and Arizona apparently likes the current layout of its quarterback room. Like Murray, one of Hundley’s best assets is his legs, so the team would not need to alter its offense too much if something should happen to Murray.
The Cardinals will also re-sign safety Chris Banjo, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network (via Twitter). Banjo has long been respected for his work as a special teams ace, and he will reprise that role with Arizona in 2020.
The former UDFA spent the first three-plus years of his career with the Packers, and he caught on with the Saints in November 2016. New Orleans actually agreed to a three-year extension with Banjo last March, but he surprisingly did not survive final roster cuts. He went on a few workouts after being cut by New Orleans and ultimately signed with the Cards.
Kenyan Drake is officially heading back to Arizona. The running back has signed his tender offer, per sports agency SportsTrust Advisors on Twitter.
We learned earlier this week that the Cardinals were slapping Drake with the transition tag. That move will ultimately cost the team around $8.5MM next season.
Of course, a whole lot has changed in Arizona since that news came out. The front office traded Drake’s competition, David Johnson, to the Texans, acquiring wideout DeAndre Hopkins in the deal. As a result, Drake will be a major contributor on one of the NFL’s up-and-coming offenses.
The team’s commitment to Drake isn’t a huge surprise following his 2019 performance. Following three-plus underwhelming seasons in Miami, the running back was dealt to Arizona midseason for a conditional sixth-rounder. The 26-year-old proceeded to have the best eight-game stretch of his career to finish out the campaign. Drake ran for 643 yards on 123 carries (good for a 5.2-yard average), adding eight touchdowns along the way. He also hauled in 28 receptions for 171 yards.
The second incarnation of the XFL didn’t make it a full season due to COVID-19, but before that things had been going surprisingly well. Things were much smoother than in the ill-fated AAF, and some players are already starting to reap the benefits.
The Seahawks, Cardinals, and Broncos have all reached out to the Houston Roughnecks to express interest in their quarterback P.J. Walker, a source told Mark Berman of FOX 26 (Twitter link). XFL players are allowed to sign with the NFL starting Monday morning, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com tweets, and it sounds like Walker could get scooped up pretty quickly.
The Temple product signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2017, and spent most the next three years on their practice squad. Walker became one of the first stars of Vince McMahon’s upstart league, as he led the Roughnecks to a perfect 5-0 start before the rest of the season was cancelled.
In those five games Walker had 1,338 yards and 15 touchdowns, leading the league in both categories. Now we see why Indianapolis kept bringing him back each offseason. All three of the interested teams won’t be looking at Walker as anything more than a backup, but he could make for a good reserve option as all three have similarly athletic and mobile starters.
Another day, another pay day for a Drew Rosenhaus client. On Thursday, the Cardinals agreed to sign former Falcons linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to a one-year deal worth up to $8.5MM, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
The exact terms of the deal are not yet known, so it will be interesting to see how much Campbell has secured in the form of guaranteed dollars and base pay. The real dollar amount is likely to be favorable for him – last year, he led the Falcons in tackles for the second straight year and turned in a perfect attendance record for the third straight season.
Campbell is a top-end run-stopper who took a major leap forward in 2019. In a perfect world, the Falcons would have liked to keep him, but the numbers crunch has forced them to make some tough choices in March.
Campbell drew trade interest before the deadline in October, but the Falcons opted to hold on to him. After a disappointing season, the Falcons might regret passing up the opportunity to get something in return for him. On the plus side, Campbell may factor into their compensatory pick formula.
Tuesday’s restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decisions will be posted below. Deals will be updated throughout the day.
Non-tendered:
Tendered:
The Cardinals have a deal in place with linebacker Devon Kennard, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Kennard, who was just let go by the Lions, will ink a three-year, $20MM deal with Arizona, which includes $12MM in guarantees, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network (on Twitter).
The Lions flip-flopped on Kennard’s release briefly yesterday, pausing to scan the league for trade possibilities. Unable to find a deal, they released him outright, which opened the door for the Cardinals.
Kennard has been a solid producer over the last two seasons in Detroit. In 31 games (30 starts), Kennard recorded 104 tackles, 29 quarterback hits, 18 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks. The Cardinals will hope he maintains that level of production in Phoenix.
One cause for concern, which likely played into why Detroit was unable to find a trading partner for the edge rusher, is more advanced analytical tools were not fond of Kennard’s abilities as a pass rusher. In fact, while he has graded as a solid defender against the run in every season since 2015, his pass rush grade has never been considered average during the same time.