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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Chiefs Claim Terrell Suggs

December 17th, 2019 at 8:14am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs claimed former Cardinals linebacker Terrell Suggs off waivers on Tuesday. The news was first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

Initially, it wasn’t clear whether Suggs would be willing to suit up for the Chiefs. After his release, he told people close to him that he would only play for the Ravens, but the opportunity to play for another Super Bowl ring made him reconsider. He will join KC and, in all likelihood, make his Chiefs debut on Sunday against the Bears.

The pickup gives the Chiefs some much needed edge rushing ammo in the wake of Alex Okafor‘s pectoral injury. To date, Suggs has with 5.5 sacks and four forced fumbles in 13 games this year.

Suggs was a popular man on the waiver wire. As Rapoport tweets, the Saints, 49ers, and Seahawks all put in a claim, which makes sense given that all of those teams are dealing with injuries to their own pass rushers. Rapoport says the Ravens may have signed Suggs if he had cleared waivers, but Baltimore did not put in a claim.

Suggs didn’t get the homecoming he wanted, but he fell into a choice situation. Rather than playing out the year for the 4-9-1 Cards, he has the opportunity to aid the 10-4 Chiefs in their quest for a championship.

Suggs was drafted No. 10 overall by the Ravens all the way back in 2003. He spent the next 16 seasons with the team and became a franchise icon, winning Super Bowl XLVII with them and making the Pro Bowl seven times. He remained reasonably productive with seven sacks in 2018, but the Ravens let him walk to Arizona in the spring.

The Chiefs will be responsible for the remainder of Suggs’ one-year, $7MM deal.

Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson Vows To Return

December 16th, 2019 at 8:53am CST by Zachary Links

It’s been a bumpy road for the Cardinals and Patrick Peterson, but the star cornerback says he’ll stay the course. After Sunday’s contest against the Browns, P2 said it won’t be his final game in Arizona.

[RELATED: Cardinals Cut Terrell Suggs]

“This won’t be my last home game here,” Peterson said. “I’ll be back.”

Peterson, 29, has just one year to go on the five-year, $70MM extension he inked back in 2014. If Peterson was unhappy and the Cardinals wanted to go in a different direction, the club could theoretically drop him to save $12.55MM against just $634K in dead money.

However, the veteran appears to be content and he’s been performing well on an individual level. On Sunday, he came away with an interception in the end zone in the first quarter and would have gotten a second INT late in the game had he not landed out of bounds after catching a pass from Baker Mayfield. He also contained Odell Beckham Jr. when it mattered most, helping the Cards come away with a 38-24 win.

“That’s my first time ever going up against Odell,” said Peterson. “It was a pleasure. One fellow Tiger against another. It was a fun matchup. It was a fun game. I knew I was going to have a couple of opportunities with Baker being the gunslinger he is. I wanted to make the best of the opportunities when they came towards me.”

Of course, with one year to go on his deal and his 30th birthday on the horizon in July, Peterson is eyeing another lucrative extension.

Cardinals Cut Terrell Suggs

December 13th, 2019 at 1:51pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals released Terrell Suggs, head coach Kliff Kingsbury announced. The 37-year-old Suggs will now be available for the league’s other 31 teams, via the waiver wire. 

The seven-time Pro-Bowler could be an interesting pickup for contenders between now and Monday. Before his release, Suggs started in all 13 games for the Cardinals this season and notched 5.5 sacks plus four forced fumbles.

“Regarding Suggs, we’ve been having conversations as the season went on, as his role has been reduced, and we’ve kind of made the shift to playing some younger players,” Kingsbury said. “… In fairness to him to try to find a better fit right now, we released Terrell today.”

Despite Kingsbury’s comment about Suggs’ diminishing role, he played 76% of the Cardinals’ defensive snaps last week against the Steelers. He’s been over the 70% threshold in nine of Arizona’s 13 contests. The Cards will transition to said younger edge defenders opposite Chandler Jones on Sunday.

Any team claiming Suggs on Monday would owe him $353K, the prorated portion of his salary for the final two weeks of the season. Any team to claim Suggs would have exclusive negotiating rights until March. Suggs was listed as questionable to play this week because of a back injury.

Suggs left the Ravens after 16 seasons to join the Cardinals on a one-year, $10MM deal in the offseason. The Arizona native exited Baltimore as the franchise’s all-time sacks leader with 132.5 QB takedowns – 62.5 more than runner-up Peter Boulware. Suggs also surpassed Ray Lewis to become the Ravens’ games-played leader, suiting up for his 229th career regular-season contest in Week 17 of the 2018 campaign.

Baltimore sits 32nd on the wire, so while a return trip to Maryland would be quite the development, it doesn’t appear likely to occur. The Seahawks, despite their Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah additions, rank 29th in sacks. The Clowney- and J.J. Watt-less Texans, as presently constructed, will surely consider such a claim. Houston resides in front of Seattle in waiver priority. Jon Gruden‘s affinity for veterans may not make such a move out of the question for the 6-7 Raiders, especially if they are to beat the Jaguars on Sunday.

Larry Fitzgerald Discusses Future

December 12th, 2019 at 9:54pm CST by Ben Levine

It’s seemingly become an annual tradition: as the regular season winds down, reporters ask Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald about his future in Arizona. It was more of the same today, as the veteran was asked if he could be playing his final home game for the organization this weekend.

“It could be,” Fitzgerald said (via Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic on Twitter). “You never know. You never know. I don’t give it much thought. I’ve told you before, I stay in the moment, man. The career will end. When it ends, it end.”

The 36-year-old answered similar questions last year, and he ended up re-signing with the Cardinals. Fitzgerald, in theory, could have tested the open market, but he has repeatedly stated that he’s only willing to play in Arizona. If the veteran wants to continue playing, the front office would presumably be willing to ride these one-year contracts.

His 100-catch, 1,000-yard seasons may be a thing of the past, but Fitzgerald has still proven to be a reliable target for rookie quarterback Kyler Murray. The receiver has hauled in 64 receptions for 669 yards and three scores this season. Fitzgerald has spent his entire career with the organization, owning franchise marks in receptions (1,367), yards (16,948), and touchdowns (119).

Surprisingly, Fitzgerald’s head coach is in favor of keeping the veteran around. Kliff Kingsbury said that the receiver could easily be part of the team’s offense in 2020.

“I’ll give him my pitch here in a couple of weeks,” Kingsbury said (via Darren Urban on Twitter).

David Johnson Addresses Role Reduction

December 11th, 2019 at 9:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

David Johnson‘s usage this season has irked numerous fantasy owners, along with Johnson himself. The fifth-year running back has stayed off the Cardinals‘ injury report for weeks but has taken a backseat to trade acquisition Kenyan Drake. This pattern (and explanation for it) has not sat well with Johnson, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The $13MM-AAV back declined to address his future with the team but was not satisfied with the reason Arizona’s coaching staff gave him for his significant workload reduction (Twitter links).

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/10/19

December 10th, 2019 at 6:37pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Dallas Cowboys

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Promoted: WR Ishmael Hyman

Washington Redskins

Interestingly Dallas’ hand was forced with Hyatt, as they promoted the offensive lineman because another team was trying to poach him away, a source told Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). He’s a rookie UDFA from Clemson. Elsewhere, the Dolphins are scooping up players from other teams left and right as they build for 2020.

2020 NFL Draft Order As Of Week 15

December 10th, 2019 at 8:06am CST by Zachary Links

With 14 full weeks of the NFL season in the books, the 2020 draft order is beginning to take shape. Here’s the rundown of where things would stand if the 2019 season ended today:

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

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/7/19

December 7th, 2019 at 6:08pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Here are today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Miami Dolphins

Washington Redskins

 

Cardinals Place DL Jonathan Bullard On IR

December 5th, 2019 at 4:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jonathan Bullard‘s contract year will end with him on IR. The Cardinals placed the fourth-year defensive lineman on their season-ending injured list Thursday, doing so in order to claim tight end Dan Arnold.

A former Bears third-round pick, Bullard is battling a hamstring injury. The Saints waived Arnold on Wednesday, doing so in order to claim Manti Te’o.

The Bears waived Bullard after the preseason, and the Cardinals made him one of their five day-after claims. He has operated as a part-time starter with Arizona, being a first-stringer for six games and playing in 36% of the Cards’ defensive snaps. The Florida alum made 1.5 sacks and 22 tackles this season, including a half-sack against the Rams on Sunday.

Arnold joins Maxx Williams and Charles Clay among Arizona’s tight end contingent. A UDFA out of Division III Wisconsin-Platteville, Arnold has played in 12 career games. His more prominent role came as a rookie, when he caught 12 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown with New Orleans.

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