HEADLINES

Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Reserve/Futures Contracts: 12/30/19

December 30th, 2019 at 7:26pm CST by Ben Levine

With the regular season behind us, teams can start signing players to reserve/futures contract. This ties the player to the team’s 90-man offseason roster.

Several teams have already started completing these deals, which we’ve compiled below:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions:

December 28th, 2019 at 9:21pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Promoted from practice squad: QB Drew Anderson
  • Placed on IR: TE Darrell Daniels

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

2020 NFL Draft Order As Of Week 17

December 25th, 2019 at 8:34am CST by Zachary Links

With one week remaining in the regular season, the 2020 NFL Draft order is starting to take shape. The 1-14 Bengals have locked up the No. 1 overall pick, but the rest of the board will be dependent on the outcome of Week 17’s games.

Here’s a look at where things stand:

1. Bengals: 1-14
2. Redskins: 3-12
3. Lions: 3-11-1
4. Giants: 4-11
5. Dolphins: 4-11
6. Jaguars: 5-10
7. Chargers: 5-10
8. Panthers: 5-10
9. Cardinals: 5-9-1
10: Jets: 6-9
11. Broncos: 6-9
12. Browns: 6-9
13. Falcons 6-9
14. Raiders 7-8
15. Cowboys 7-8
16. Colts 7-8
17. Buccaneers 7-8
18. Raiders (via Bears) 7-8
19. Dolphins (via Steelers) 8-7
20. Jaguars (via Rams) 8-7
21. Eagles 8-7
22. Titans 8-7
23. Bills 10-5
24. Vikings 10-5
25. Dolphins (via Texans) 10-5
26. Chiefs 11-4
27. Seahawks 11-4
28. Packers 12-3
29. Patriots 12-3
30. Saints 12-3
31. 49ers 12-3
32. Ravens 13-2

Cardinals Considering Staff Shakeup

December 24th, 2019 at 5:37pm CST by Zachary Links

With a 5-9-1 record heading into the season finale, the Cardinals are understandably planning some changes in the offseason. Those plans may include a shakeup of the coaching staff, as head coach Kliff Kingsbury tells the team website. 

Kingsbury will sit down with GM Steve Keim and chairman and owner Michael Bidwill to discuss the futures of his coaches. From the sound of it, those decisions will not be entirely up to the first-year coach.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever worked with a GM on that side of things,” Kingsbury said. “With Michael and Steve, (we’ll) sit down in a room and talk about each position group and be brutally honest with ourselves and each other and come to a good place. That relationship to me has been vital, with Steve, where we are very upfront with each other, with what he sees and what I see. Michael has the final say. I like where the relationship is at, and we’ll find out after the season.”

Kingsbury – an NFL neophyte – leaned heavily on Keim’s suggestions to find assistants with pro experience. After one season in the league, Kingsbury admits that he still doesn’t know a ton of coaches in NFL circles.

As of this writing, the Cardinals are slated to pick No. 9 overall in the draft. They’ll finish up the 2019 season on Sunday when they take on the Rams in Los Angeles.

Injury Updates: Ingram, Haskins, Murray

December 22nd, 2019 at 9:39pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Here are the key injuries which we’ve seen some reporting on:

  • The Ravens officially clinched the top seed in the AFC with their win over the Browns on Sunday, but Baltimore fans were left holding their breath when running back Mark Ingram went down with a calf injury. Head coach John Harbaugh told reporters after the game there’s no structural damage, but a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com that Ingram suffered a calf strain (Twitter link). Ingram was wearing a walking boot after a game, via a tweet from Josina Anderson of ESPN. Harbaugh was trying to sound optimistic, but calf strains can linger. Fortunately for Baltimore, he’ll have Week 17 and a first-round bye to rest.
  • Dwayne Haskins has been getting a lot better recently, so it was unfortunate to see him go down with an ankle injury during the Redskins’ loss to the Giants. Interestingly, Haskins said after the game that he lobbied to return, but owner Dan Snyder personally told him not to go back in, per John Keim of ESPN.com. Normally it’d be unusual for an owner to be consulting directly with a player during a game, but this is the Redskins we’re talking about. Washington is in line for the second overall pick right now, and they could opt to be conservative and sit Haskins in Week 17.
  • Speaking of rookie quarterbacks, Kyler Murray was also knocked out on Sunday with a hamstring injury. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters after the game he wasn’t sure if Murray would be able to play in Week 17 against the Rams. Murray had a large wrap on his hamstring and if it was bad enough to knock him out immediately he could be up against it to play next week. Brett Hundley, who finished off Arizona’s upset win over the Seahawks, would start next week if he isn’t ready.
  • One last quarterback update, as Mason Rudolph was sidelined with a shoulder injury shortly after being reinserted for a benched Devlin Hodges. The Steelers’ quarterback situation is an absolute mess right now as they prepare for a must-win game against the Ravens. Hodges came back in for Rudolph, and resumed struggling. Rudolph provided an instant spark after relieving Hodges, so he’ll almost certainly start against Baltimore if he’s healthy. Rudolph was seen leaving the stadium with his arm in a sling, per Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link).
  • The Titans can clinch a playoff berth with a Week 17 win over the Texans, and fortunately they’ll be getting a boost to their offense. Running back Derrick Henry was inactive for their loss to the Saints on Sunday, but he is expected to play against Houston, a source told Schefter (Twitter link). Henry has been dealing with a hamstring issue.
  • The winner of the Week 17 game between the 49ers and Seahawks will determine who wins the NFC West and in turn hosts a playoff game, and both sides are banged up. San Francisco pass-rusher Dee Ford has missed most of the last month with a hamstring injury and he’s not expected to play against Seattle, a source told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports. They gave up a second-round pick to land Ford this offseason, then signed him to a massive extension, and he’s been a bit of a disappointment. Fortunately for the 49ers, the Seahawks are dealing with even more significant health issues.

NFC Notes: Gordon, Sherman, Cardinals, Packers

December 21st, 2019 at 10:44am CST by Ben Levine

This week, embattled receiver Josh Gordon earned the fifth suspension of his career, as he was banned from the league for violating the league’s policies on performance-enhancing substances and substances of abuse. Naturally, some have questioned if the 28-year-old’s NFL career has come to an end.

Russell Wilson got to know Gordon during his brief stint in Seattle, and the Seahawks quarterback is confident that the receiver will see the field again.

“I got pretty close with Josh,” Wilson said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “You’re going to miss him obviously as a player, but more importantly as a friend and as a guy you bonded with pretty quickly. We’ve been staying in touch and all that. I just pray for him. I really believe that prayer works. I really believe that relationships and friendships work in supporting no matter what we go through. We all have stuff. We all have things that we go through. I’m just praying for him and rooting for him. He’ll overcome. He’s going to overcome, and I really believe that. Hopefully, he’ll get another chance to play with us because he was fun to play with.”

Since joining the Seahawks in early November, Gordon caught just seven passes for 139 yards and zero touchdowns. It’s a far cry from his best work, including a 2014 season in which he had 87 receptions for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns in 14 games with the Browns.

Let’s check out some more notes from around the NFC…

  • Richard Sherman has added incentive to return to the field tonight for the 49ers matchup against the Rams. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the veteran cornerback can earn an extra $1MM if he plays 90-percent of his team’s stats this season. Sherman is currently sitting at 85.7-percent heading into tonight’s game. The veteran missed the 49ers’ Week 15 loss to the Falcons with a hamstring injury.
  • Thanks to a six-game suspension for Patrick Peterson and an injury for Robert Alford, the Cardinals have been forced to play rookie cornerback Byron Murphy on the outside. Next season, the team is hoping Murphy can slide back to the position that the organization envisioned for him: slot corner. “We’d like to,” coach Kliff Kingsbury told Katherine Fitzgerald of AZCentral.com. “To me, it’s been tough, him having to play corner and play half the season going against their best wideouts, that’s a tall task for him. We drafted him to be that nickel-type body.”
  • Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph echoed that sentiment. “His role was going to be the third corner, as a nickle,” Joseph said. “And that’s a starting position. So it’s not a position where it’s not a spot that we don’t covet. It’s a real position, and it really fits Murph’s skill set. … If he can be a top-rate nickle for us, that’s gonna help us win.” The second-round pick out of Washington has 69 tackles and eight passes defended this season.
  • Packers rookie linebacker Greg Roberts returned to practice yesterday, tweets ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. The undrafted rookie had been on PUP all season as he recovered from core muscle surgery. Meanwhile, Jim Owczarski of the Journal Sentinel tweets that Packers safety Raven Greene was also seen working out earlier this week. The defensive back has been on injured reserve since Week 2, and he’s been out of his walking boot for several weeks.

Cardinals DB Josh Shaw Drops Appeal

December 20th, 2019 at 12:09pm CST by Ben Levine

Josh Shaw has dropped the appeal of his gambling suspension, per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. ESPN’s David Purdum had previously reported that the Cardinals defensive back would appeal the ban, but Shaw has obviously changed his mind.

We learned at the end of November that the 27-year-old allegedly made a three-team parlay bet on Nov. 10 at Caesars Sportsbook. Shaw’s bet included three Week 10 games’ second halves, including a Cardinals-Buccaneers contest. The wager is not believed to have been successful. Nevertheless, Caesars contacted the Nevada State Gaming Control Board later on Nov. 10 and subsequently alerted the NFL.

Shaw was hit with a suspension that will last through the 2020 campaign, as the NFL strictly prohibits all personnel from betting on NFL games. He will be eligible to apply for reinstatement in February 2021.

The former Chiefs and Bengals DB signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals in the offseason. The fifth-year veteran has been on Arizona’s IR list all season, and he is not believed to have spent time with the team during that span (which is important in regards to inside information and the compromising of NFL games). However, his chances of returning to the league obviously took a major hit with these recent developments. The most recent known NFLer suspended for gambling on an NFL game while active was Ravens rookie quarterback John Stark in 1996. He did not return to the league.

Cardinals GM Steve Keim On Drake, Fitzgerald, Offseason

December 20th, 2019 at 11:57am CST by Rory Parks

It was somewhat surprising when the Cardinals traded for Kenyan Drake in advance of this year’s deadline, given that Arizona was clearly not going to make a postseason run and given that Drake is eligible for unrestricted free agency in March. But GM Steve Keim saw something he liked in the former Dolphins RB and wanted to secure exclusive negotiating rights with him.

Drake has not disappointed, averaging 4.8 yards-per-carry in his six games in Arizona to go along with five scores and 22 receptions for 130 yards. Keim touched on Drake’s future with the team and several other key issues facing the Cardinals this offseason, including Larry Fitzgerald‘s future, in an interview with Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com.

On the Drake trade:

“The mindset of going into the trade, it wasn’t done because we had two backs that were injured and was sort of a stop-gap situation. If that was a the case, my mindset was I would’ve signed a guy off the street. We truly thought this was the type of player Kenyan Drake was. That’s why we made trade and hope this was the kind of success he would have.”

On his hopes of re-signing Drake, and when he might try to do it:

“As far as waiting until after the season (to re-sign Drake), that’s not necessarily the thing either. I would certainly love to have Kenyan Drake back. I think he fits in this offense and he really has given us a spark in many ways.”

On Fitzgerald’s future (for Fitzgerald’s thoughts, see here):

“We would love to have him back. We all know what he brings to the organization. But the one thing you want to do with a player like him is give him the respect he deserves. Allow him to make that decision on his own. But I will say this. This is maybe the most fun I’ve seen him have in the last four years. He’s playing at a high level. I know he likes [head coach] Kliff [Kingsbury] and I know he likes this offense. Doesn’t hurt to have a guy (in quarterback Kyler Murray) who can spin it to him like this too.”

Keim said he will look to upgrade the Cardinals’ O-line this offseason, though he thinks the team’s high sack total is partly due to Murray’s style of play:

“I think Kyler would be the first to tell you there have been quite a few sacks given up that are on him. There has been times when I thought our offensive line has given him the type of protection he’s needed.”

On Murray himself:

“[T]here is no doubt in my mind we hit it through the roof. It’s one thing to be ultra-talented, but the guys who are the great ones, just when everybody thinks they have worked hard and done enough, those guys go above and beyond. There are up late night watching film, trying to find little tells that people don’t see. Just so the speed of the game slows down.”

NFC West Notes: Watson, Penny, 49ers

December 20th, 2019 at 10:11am CST by Rory Parks

Current Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, who enjoyed a strong run as the Cardinals‘ HC from 2013-17, nearly brought one of the league’s best quarterbacks to the desert prior to his final year in Arizona. Deshaun Watson was selected by the Texans with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2017 draft, and the Cardinals held the No. 13 overall pick that year. As Patrick D. Starr of SI.com writes, Arians was poised to nab Watson if he slipped one more spot.

It’s unclear whether the Cardinals tried to trade up to select Watson, but they ultimately took linebacker Haason Reddick with their choice. Of course, Arizona seems to have found its QB of the future in Kyler Murray. and who knows how things may have turned out if Watson ended up with the Cards, but it’s always fun to play the butterfly effect game when reports like this surface.

Now for more from the NFC West:

  • Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny is undergoing ACL surgery Friday morning, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. We recently heard that, in addition to an ACL tear, Penny may have sustained additional knee damage, but Schefter says the 2018 first-rounder is expected to be ready to go for the 2020 season.
  • The 49ers have sustained a number of injuries lately, but they will have CB Richard Sherman back this week. Though recent reports indicated that Sherman may not be back until the playoffs, Matt Barrows of The Athletic says the three-time First Team All-Pro will play in San Francisco’s matchup against the Rams on Saturday night (Twitter link). The Niners, of course, are trying to get back into one of the NFC’s top two seeds after a bad loss to the Falcons on Sunday dropped them to the fifth seed.
  • Speaking of Sherman, Field Yates of ESPN.com points out that the 31-year-old earned a league-high $1MM incentive by being named to this year’s Pro Bowl on the original ballot, and he also increased his 2020 base salary by $1MM (Twitter link). Sherman is currently under contract with the 49ers through the 2020 season.
  • 49ers LB Kwon Alexander, who was ruled out for the season in November with a torn pec, does have a chance to return at some point in the postseason, as Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area writes. However, head coach Kyle Shanahan conceded that the odds of that happening are slim, and it seems much more likely that the team will have to wait until next year to see Alexander back in action.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/18/19

December 18th, 2019 at 3:58pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

Load More Posts