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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Cardinals Sign OLB Matt Longacre

July 24th, 2019 at 2:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Matt Longacre‘s stay in free agency ended Wednesday, with the Cardinals reaching an agreement to sign the former Rams edge defender. The team announced the deal.

The latest veteran edge player to sign with the Cards this offseason, Longacre will head to the desert after news of another one of those acquisitions — Brooks Reed — beginning camp on the active/PUP list. Reed has battled a hip injury this offseason. Longacre, who is four years younger than Reed, figures to compete for a depth spot behind Chandler Jones and Terrell Suggs.

The Rams used Longacre, 27, as both a starter and a reserve. The former Division II star started one game in his first three seasons but seven in 2018, after the Rams went with a lower-profile edge corps to start the season. After a 5.5-sack 2017, Longacre registered one last season. He did play in each of the Rams’ playoff games and visited the Ravens this offseason; Baltimore opted for Shane Ray and Pernell McPhee.

Reed signed for $1.6MM, helping his case to stick on Arizona’s 53-man roster. Longacre joins a cast of aspiring backups, including Vontarrius Dora, Cameron Malveaux and Pita Taumoepenu. Dora played for the Broncos under new Cardinals DC Vance Joseph.

NFC West Rumors: Seahawks, Rams, Kupp

July 24th, 2019 at 10:32am CST by Zachary Links

You can expect the Seahawks to add a veteran defensive tackle following Jarran Reed‘s suspension, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com tweets. He also offers a couple of names to keep an eye on: Earl Mitchell and Corey Liuget have both been linked to Seattle and are still available.

Here’s more from the NFC West:

  • Rams receiver Cooper Kupp will not have to start training camp on the physically unable to perform list, Steve Wyche of NFL Media tweets. That’s huge for Kupp, who tore his left ACL in November. The receiver has been vocal about his desire to play in Week 1 and it sounds like he’ll be ready to go for the opener if all goes well from here. Last year, Kupp had 40 catches for 566 yards and six scores before succumbing to injury.
  • A minor bit of news – Cardinals lineman Justin Pugh will shift from right guard back to his native left guard this season (Twitter link via Pugh). Pugh, 29 in August, started in all seven of his games for the Cardinals last year before landing on IR in November. The former first-round pick, unfortunately, has not played a full season since his 2013 rookie year.

Cardinals Place Several On PUP List

July 20th, 2019 at 4:48pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • The Cardinals will begin camp without some notable veterans. Robert Nkemdiche, Charles Clay, Brooks Reed, Max Garcia and Brandon Williams on their active/PUP list, the team announced. Clay and Nkemdiche have been battling knee injuries, the latter’s stemming from a December torn ACL. A four-year Broncos guard, Garcia tore his ACL last season as well. Hip and back problems currently limit Reed and Williams, respectively. All players placed on the active/PUP list can return at any point in camp.

Cardinals Sign Jalen Thompson

July 17th, 2019 at 10:30am CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals have officially signed fifth-round supplemental draft pick Jalen Thompson, according to a team announcement. The Cardinals were at the 90-man roster maximum heading into Wednesday, but a spot opened up for the defensive back when the Cardinals dropped Desmond Harrison following his alleged assault of a woman.

[RELATED: Cardinals Release Desmond Harrison]

Thompson was far and away the best talent in this year’s supplemental draft class and wound up as the only player selected in the second-chance draft. The Packers and Texans also showed interest in the youngster, but the Cardinals won out. It’s not clear if the Packers or Texans placed bids on Thompson, but we do know that their draft priority (Nos. 10 and 26, respectively) was behind the Cardinals’ (No. 4).

Thompson attained freshman All-America status in 2016, was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection as a sophomore, and wrapped up his Cougars career with six INTs. In 2018, he picked off two passes, made 66 tackles and forced a fumble.

Some in the Cardinals organization believe that Jalen Thompson is a better safety prospect than Deionte Thompson, the club’s fifth-round pick in April. If J. Thompson can impress this summer, there could be big things in store for him in Arizona.

Cardinals Release Desmond Harrison

July 17th, 2019 at 10:27am CST by Zachary Links

Well, that was fast. Just moments after an arrest warrant was issued for offensive tackle Desmond Harrison, the Cardinals released him, per a team announcement.

North Carolina authorities have charged Harrison with assault on a person by strangulation and assault on a female by a male. Not much is known about the incident outside of that, but the Cardinals wasted little time in showing the 25-year-old the door.

Harrison, 25, opened the 2018 season as the starter at left tackle before Greg Robinson took over in the second half of the season. This year, Harrison was expected to be a key sub in Cleveland, but the Browns waived him after he missed multiple team meetings. The Cardinals claimed him with the hope that they could get him on the right track, but things clearly did not work out.

Harrison routinely found himself in trouble throughout college and his reputation kept him from being drafted last year. Even though there’s a dearth of quality tackles throughout the league, the Redskins were the only other known team to have placed a claim on him.

Harrison will now be subject to waivers, but it would be a surprise to see any team place a claim on him in the next 24 hours.

Cardinals’ Harrison Charged With Assault

July 17th, 2019 at 10:18am CST by Zachary Links

Cardinals offensive tackle Desmond Harrison has been charged with assault on a person by strangulation and assault on a female by a male, as Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports writes. North Carolina police have issued a felony arrest warrant for the 25-year-old, who just recently joined his new team.

The Browns waived Harrison in June after he repeatedly missed team meetings and left coaches with the impression that he was unreliable. It was a surprising release given that Harrison spent the first half of 2018 as the team’s starting left tackle.

Harrison’s talent is undeniable, but off-the-field trouble has been an issue throughout his career. He was suspended at the University of Texas three times before transferring to West Georgia and went undrafted despite solid pre-draft workouts.

Just last month, Harrison told the Cardinals’ website that he was ready to turn over a new leaf.

“I’ll just show that with my actions,” Harrison said. “My guys are going to hold me accountable, as well as the coaches.”

Patrick Peterson On 2018 Trade Demand

July 15th, 2019 at 5:44pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • Part of the reason Patrick Peterson requested a trade last season stemmed from the changes the Cardinals were making on defense. Their switch from their long-used 3-4 look to a 4-3 did not go well, and Peterson was not happy with how far the team fell since the 2015 NFC championship game. “I mean, honestly, what happened last year, it was a lot of turn of events,” Peterson said during a SiriusXM NFL Radio interview (via the Arizona Republic). “Especially being one game removed from going to the Super Bowl, and getting new coaches, getting new staff, a new scheme, when you’re so used to playing in a 3-4, and you felt that it was good for the players that you had on your roster. So, it was just a lot of whirlwind going on last year and I was just frustrated.” Fully backtracking on last year’s trade demand, the eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback recently said he wants to be a Cardinal for life.

Fitzgerald To Have More Versatile '19 Role

July 12th, 2019 at 9:51pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • In the same piece, McManamon lists third-year wideout Chad Williams as being on the Cards’ roster bubble. With the team drafting three receivers to join Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk and UFA addition Kevin White, the former Bruce Arians-era third-round pick (20 career catches for 202 yards and one touchdown) may be battling uphill to keep his roster spot.
  • Larry Fitzgerald‘s late-career move to the slot led to an uptick in his reception counts, with the Cardinals’ future Hall of Famer eclipsing 100 catches for three straight seasons from 2017-19. Kliff Kingsbury said the soon-to-be 36-year-old receiver has shown an early chemistry with Kyler Murray and will be moved to different places in formations this season, per Bob McManamon of the Arizona Republic. In a 2018 season that saw the Cardinals rank last in points and total yards, Fitzgerald posted a career-low 734 yards.

Patrick Peterson Wants To Be With Cardinals “For Life”

July 12th, 2019 at 12:14pm CST by Zachary Links

It has been a strange saga between the Cardinals and Patrick Peterson, but the star now says that he wants to stay with the team “for life.” In an interview with SiriusXM, Peterson said he was willing to bury the hatchet with the club and remain for years to come. 

“Yeah, I would love to be a Cardinal for life, but things happen,” he said. “Hell, something could change next month. The things happen not only in football, but in the world in general. So, I would love to be a Cardinal for life. I would love to be one of those guys to bring this organization its first championship.”

Things, in fact, have changed frequently with Peterson. P2 demanded a trade in 2018, though he apologized for his outspokenness in January and said he’s in Arizona “to stay.” But, tensions resurfaced in April amidst speculation that the cornerback wanted out yet again. Then, in May, he was slapped with a six-game suspension for PEDs.

Peterson says much of his dissatisfaction came from the arrival of Steve Wilks and the major overhaul made to the defense. Now, with Kliff Kingsbury in charge, he seems happier.

“So it was just a lot of whirlwind going on last year,” Peterson said. “And I was just frustrated. I love Arizona. I definitely want to be there. Just that time of the year, last year, like I said, it was just very, very tough to deal with. But as being one of the leaders, I definitely felt it shouldn’t have gone that way. But people upstairs can trade players and try to shop players around whenever they need to. So I didn’t see what was wrong with me asking for a trade at the time. So it kind of works both ways.

“But right now I’m in a very, very happy place with the team. All of this is behind us right now, obviously. And something new just came up with me being suspended the first six games. But you know, I’m a man. I have to lick my wounds and be able to move forward from all of this. I have moved forward, and I’m ready to see what the future has for me.”

 

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