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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Cardinals Sign LB Zach Brown

November 1st, 2019 at 3:44pm CST by Zachary Links

Zach Brown has a new home. On Friday, the Cardinals signed the veteran linebacker, per a club announcement. 

The deal gives the Cardinals some much needed help and adds to the Cardinals’ collection of ex-Eagles ILBs. With Brown, Joe Walker, and Jordan Hicks on the roster, they’ve got three former Iggles on board.

Brown, a second-round pick of the Titans in 2012, was cut by the Eagles in October after he wrote checks that his tuchus couldn’t cash. Before all of that, he turned in a solid 2018 season with the Redskins and earned a spot as a Pro Bowl replacement in 2016 with the Bills.

For his career, Brown has 80 starts, 17.5 sacks, and seven interceptions to his credit. He’ll look to build on that in Arizona and add to his 2019 total of 29 tackles.

Brown will take the roster spot of running back Alfred Morris, who was cut loose earlier in the day. Morris, who had a super short stay with the Cardinals, will be subject to the waiver wire as a post-deadline cut.

Cardinals Cut Alfred Morris

November 1st, 2019 at 1:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals have informed running back Alfred Morris of his release (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). It was a super short stay in Arizona for the veteran, who was only just signed to the roster. 

Morris was squeezed out by the arrival of Kenyan Drake, who came over via trade with the Dolphins. In Drake’s Thursday night debut, he rattled off 110 yards on 15 carries, good for a 7.33 ypc average. Suddenly, the Cardinals no longer feel the need to have the safety net of Morris.

Morris’ 2019 Cardinals run ends after three snaps and one carry for four yards. He’ll look to new work and playing time elsewhere, but not before hitting the NFL’s waiver wire. Morris has the service time of a veteran, but all players released after the trade deadline are subject to the wire. If Morris clears, he’ll be free to sign with any club of his choosing.

Cardinals Place D.J. Foster On IR

October 28th, 2019 at 3:34pm CST by Zachary Links

D.J. Foster‘s season could be over. At minimum, he’ll be out for the next eight weeks. 

[RELATED: Dolphins Trade Drake To Cardinals]

On Monday, the Cardinals placed the running back on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. The move comes on the heels of their Monday morning trade for running back Kenyan Drake, so they’re already adequately prepared for Foster’s absence.

Foster, of course, isn’t the only injured Cardinals RB. Chase Edmonds just went down with a hamstring injury of his own and star David Johnson is dealing with an ankle injury. This all amounts to Drake, fresh off the plane from Miami, being penciled in as the main ball-carrier for Thursday night’s game against the 49ers. He’ll be backed by the Cardinals’ revamped group, featuring Zach Zenner and Alfred Morris.

Foster, who has primarily contributed on special teams, returned eight kickoffs for 184 yards in the first six games of the year.

Dolphins To Trade Kenyan Drake To Cardinals

October 28th, 2019 at 9:05am CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals have reached agreement on a trade to acquire Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. In the deal, the Dolphins will acquire a conditional sixth-round pick in 2020 that can become a fifth-rounder. 

Drake will help to reinforce a Cardinals RB group that badly needs the support. Star David Johnson is expected to miss this week’s game due to an ankle injury and Chase Edmonds, a key fill-in, suffered a hamstring injury of his own over the weekend. Drake now figures to see significant work against the 49ers on Thursday night.

Drake gives the Cardinals a clear boost in the near term, but he does not necessarily give them a building block for 2020 and beyond. He’ll be a free agent after the season, so they’ll have some work to do if Drake impresses in the second half of the season. For the here and now: the Cardinals seem to believe in their roster and like their chances of climbing out of a 3-4-1 hole.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, seem to be keeping their eyes on the prize – a top draft pick in 2020. With no hope of contending this year, they’ve bolstered their draft capital and unloaded a player who was unlikely to suit up again in Miami.

Drake did not travel with the Dolphins for tonight’s game against the Steelers, a move that foretold a Drake deal. The Lions and Titans were linked to Drake, but the Cardinals seem to have wanted him more.

Miami’s bottom-tier offensive line has struggled this season, and Drake is averaging a career-low 3.7 yards per carry. However, the former third-round pick posted 4.8- and 4.5-yard YPC averages in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Drake, 25, has not rushed for 50 yards in a game this season, but he surpassed 1,000 yards from scrimmage in a part-time role last year and has just 333 career carries under his belt.

David Johnson Again A Game-Time Call

October 25th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • David Johnson enters this week’s Cardinals game in the same place he did the past two games: as a game-time decision. Kliff Kingsbury said (via AZCardinals.com’s Darren Urban, on Twitter) the former All-Pro back does not need practice to suit up for a game, but with Chase Edmonds playing well in relief, this shapes up as a true game-time call. Johnson suited up for Week 7 but spent most of his afternoon on the sideline. Both Christian Kirk and Jordan Hicks are game-day calls as well.

Cardinals Sign Alfred Morris, Zach Zenner

October 23rd, 2019 at 12:30pm CST by Marc Delucchi

The Cardinals signed running backs Alfred Morris and Zach Zenner this morning. The signings were first reported by Adam Caplan of ESPN.com and have since been confirmed by the team. In the team’s press release, the organization announced they released cornerback Trevor Williams to accommodate the signings.

Morris, in his ninth NFL season, burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2012 with Washington rushing for over 1,600 yards. He started every Washington game (64) over his time with the organization and accrued 5,078 yards from scrimmage in his four seasons with the team. Morris has not been a primary back elsewhere, but he has been a spot starter for both the Cowboys and 49ers in the past two seasons.

Zenner is another multi-year veteran, but has never had more than a rotational role. After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Lions, Zenner was released in August. He joined the Saints on October 16th and only received one carry before he was released yesterday.

Adding two veteran backs raises concerns that star running back David Johnson will be out for the Cardinals upcoming games. Johnson has been limited by knee problems over the past week and while he was active against the Giants, it was clear the team wanted to limit his workload. Backup Chase Edmonds was exceptional filling in as the primary back and appears Morris and Zenner will be expected to spell Edmonds in the coming weeks while they wait for Johnson to heal.

Williams was claimed on waivers from the Chargers on October 8th. He hasn’t played a large role for Arizona this season, but over the previous three seasons between San Diego and Los Angeles, Williams made 27 starts accruing 100 tackles and three interceptions.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/22/19

October 22nd, 2019 at 9:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed off Jaguars’ practice squad: DT Eli Ankou

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings 

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Cardinals To Sign RB Alfred Morris

October 22nd, 2019 at 3:45pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals have agreed to sign running back Alfred Morris, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. To make room, they’ve dropped linebacker Ramik Wilson. 

Morris is on hand to help man the running back position while David Johnson nurses an ankle injury. He edged out Thomas Rawls and Zach Zenner in a recent audition as he looks to get his career back in track.

Morris, 30, played 12 games with the 49ers last season. This offseason, Morris reunited with the Cowboys, but Ezekiel Elliott‘s early September return left A-Mo without a job.

Morris did his best work early on with the Redskins, including a stellar 1,600-yard rookie season. In 2013 and 2014, he earned back-to-back Pro Bowl nods and eclipsed 1,000 yards each time. There have been signs of life more recently than that, however. In 2017, Morris managed 4.8 yards per carry in a small-but-not-that-small sample of 115 totes.

The Cardinals, who have a 3-3-1 record, will face the Saints on Sunday.

2019 NFL Cap Space, By Team

October 21st, 2019 at 5:29pm CST by Zachary Links

With eight days to go before the 2019 trade deadline, here’s a look at the cap space possessed by each team, via ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter):

1. Colts: $43.5M
2. Browns: $32.9M
3. Dolphins: $28M
4. Bills: $24.7M
5. Cowboys: $24M
6. Titans: $23.7
7. Chiefs: $23.1M
8. Raiders: $22.4M
9. Eagles: $22.2M
10. Texans: $21.6M
11. Lions: $18.9M
12. Bears: $17M
13. 49ers: $14.4M
14. Panthers: $14.2M
15. Bengals: $13.6M
16. Redskins: $13.5M
17. Jaguars: $10.3M
18. Broncos: $10M
19. Packers: $9.5M
20. Seahawks: $7.8M
21. Buccaneers: $6.5M
22. Jets: $6.1M
23. Rams: $4.6M
24. Cardinals: $4.1M
25. Chargers: $4.1M
26. Steelers: $3.4M
27. Patriots: $2.5M
28. Giants: $2.2M
29. Ravens: $2.1M
30. Saints: $1.9M
31. Falcons: $1.7M
32. Vikings: $623K

Cardinals To Work Out Jay Ajayi

October 21st, 2019 at 10:33am CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals will meet with running back Jay Ajayi, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The running back will take a physical and audition for the club on Monday and Tuesday.

Before his injury-shortened 2018, Ajayi posted two strong seasons. In 2016, he earned his first career Pro Bowl nod as he averaged 4.9 yards per carry for the Dolphins. In 2017, a midseason trade sent him to the Eagles, where he averaged 5.8 yards per tote off of 70 tries and captured his first ever Super Bowl ring.

Unfortunately, that career progress was halted by a torn ACL, but Ajayi is now healthy and ready to show the NFL what he can do. For the Cardinals, he could be a useful fill-in amidst multiple injuries at the position. D.J. Foster was ruled out against the Giants and star David Johnson is pushing through an ankle injury of his own.

The advanced metrics indicate that Ajayi is among the league’s better running backs when healthy, so he could provide a major midseason boost to the Cards or any team in need of backfield help. After Sunday’s win over the Giants, the Cardinals are 3-3-1 as they get ready for a Sunday showdown with the Saints. When they take on New Orleans, they might have one of the league’s more intriguing RB talents in uniform, behind Johnson.

The Cardinals are also taking a look at Spencer Ware and Benny Cunningham, Rapoport hears (Twitter links). Ware was initially set to play for the Colts this year, but wound up on PUP with a toe injury. Ware disagreed with the team’s decision and was ultimately released in September. The Jaguars cut the former Rams and Bears back midway through training camp, and his in-season workouts thus far have not led to any contract agreements.

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