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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Derek Anderson Announces Retirement

May 9th, 2019 at 6:31pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Longtime NFL quarterback Derek Anderson has announced his retirement, the Bills announced today.

Anderson, 35, spent the 2018 campaign in Buffalo, starting two games while completing 42-of-70 attempts for 465 yards, zero touchdowns, and four interceptions. Despite has lackluster performance on the field, the Bills valued his off-field presence enough to sign him to a one-year extension through the 2019 campaign. Anderson has apparently had a change of heart since that December accord was reached, however.

A sixth-round draft choice of the Ravens in 2005, Anderson’s most notable season came in 2007, when he helped lead Cleveland to a 10-6 record and earned a Pro Bowl berth. Anderson subsequently signed a three-year deal to remain with the Browns despite the fact that Cleveland had used a first-round selection on fellow signal-caller Brady Quinn in 2007. The Oregon State product wasn’t able to hold onto his full-time gig, but still started 16 games over the next two seasons.

After making nine starts for the Cardinals in 2010, Anderson signed up for a long-term gig: Cam Newton‘s backup in Carolina. Anderson spent the 2011-17 seasons with the Panthers but was rarely asked to play. During those seven years, Anderson made only four starts and attempted just 168 passes.

The Bills will now move forward with Matt Barkley as the No. 2 to starting quarterback Josh Allen, although the club did also sign Buffalo alum Tyree Jackson as an undrafted free agent.

Cardinals Sign Kyler Murray, Five Other Draft Picks

May 9th, 2019 at 5:51pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cardinals have signed first overall selection Kyler Murray, the club announced today. Arizona also signed following draft choices:

Like all first-round picks, Murray has signed a four-year deal with a fifth-year option for the 2023 season. Per Over the Cap, Murray’s contract should be worth $33.159MM in total. He’ll receive a signing bonus of roughly $23.59MM, and carry a cap charge of $6.392MM during his rookie campaign. Murray’s contract contains language that will void the deal if he leaves the NFL to pursue his baseball career, tweets Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. 

Murray, of course, spurned MLB’s Oakland Athletics in order to enter the NFL Draft. The Cardinals have since traded 2018 first-round quarterback Josh Rosen to the Dolphins, and intend to install an Air Raid system under new head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Along with new weapons like rookie wideouts Andy Isabella and Hakeem Butler (neither of whom was signed today), the Cardinals will look to improve an offense that ranked among the league’s worst last year.

While Murray is the headliner, Murphy is a name-brand prospect in his own right. Projected by many observers to become the first cornerback off the board, Murphy ultimately lasted until the first pick of the second round. An excellent zone coverage corner, Murphy will fit in well with new defensive coordinator Vance Joseph‘s zone-heavy scheme.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/2/19

May 2nd, 2019 at 7:28pm CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s minor moves, which feature several recognizable signal-callers:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Waived: S Delvon Randall (signed as UDFA with partially-guaranteed contract on May 1)

Maxx Williams To Sign With Cardinals

May 2nd, 2019 at 4:36pm CST by Rory Parks

Free agent tight end Maxx Williams has agreed to sign with the Cardinals, as Williams himself tweeted. He will have a chance to rejuvenate his career in Arizona, whose tight end depth chart is not particularly imposing.

Williams, whom the Ravens selected in the second round of the 2015 draft, entered the league with plenty of promise. Baltimore actually traded up to land the Minnesota product, and the club had visions of him catching deep passes down the seam and creating mismatches with linebackers in the passing game.

And while Williams showed flashes of that ability, injuries have hampered him throughout his professional career, and after the Ravens selected Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews in the 2018 draft and re-signed Nick Boyle this offseason, it was clear that Williams’ time in Baltimore could be coming to an end.

But while he never blossomed into the receiver the Ravens hoped he could be, he has become a solid blocker, and he is just 25, so he may yet realize some of his former potential as a pass catcher. The Cardinals signed Charles Clay this offseason and made UCLA product Caleb Johnson this year’s Mr. Irrelevant with the final pick of last week’s draft, and the club is also rostering Ricky Seals-Jones, but none of those players are going to prevent Williams from getting an extended look.

Williams follows former Ravens teammate Terrell Suggs to the desert.

Cardinals Decline Nkemdiche’s Option

May 2nd, 2019 at 12:47pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals are declining defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche’s fifth-year option, a source tells Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The option would have been worth $7.690MM and guaranteed for injury only, but the Cardinals did not feel comfortable enough to pull the trigger. 

Nkemdiche is coming off of the best season of his career after notching 45 sacks in ten games (six starts). While he showed some promise, Nkemdiche has struggled to stay healthy since being selected with the No. 29 overall pick in 2016. He suited up for just 15 games in his first two seasons and last year’s campaign ended with a torn ACL in December. But, given his physical tools, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Nkemdiche having a bounce back year in 2019 and setting himself up for a huge payday next March.

The deadline for fifth-year option decisions isn’t until tomorrow, but we more or less know the outcome for every 2016 first-round pick already.

Latest On Dolphins, Josh Rosen

April 30th, 2019 at 7:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Sent to the Dolphins for second- and fifth-round picks, Josh Rosen apparently did not go on the trade block until minutes before the Cardinals selected Kyler Murray.

Steve Keim texted Rosen’s agent, Ryan Williams, just before the Murray pick to give him permission to join the Cardinals in finding a Rosen trade partner, Robert Klemko of SI.com reports. When Keim asked Williams if the Patriots were interested in making Rosen Tom Brady‘s heir apparent, Williams wondered why this wasn’t worked out weeks ago — when the Murray-to-Arizona rumors started.

The Redskins laughed at the Cardinals’ request for a first-round pick, per Klemko, who adds Keim did have a contingency plan that involved keeping both Murray and Rosen on the roster.

The Dolphins did not enter into the Rosen equation until the draft was 20 minutes old, with the Giants’ and Redskins’ first-round quarterback picks eliminating the other primary Rosen suitors. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders if the NFL was responsible for the Cardinals’ 11th-hour approach to dealing their previous starter, with a pre-draft Rosen trade removing the drama surrounding the first overall pick.

When Keim and Chris Grier spoke at the Combine, Rosen’s name did not come up, per Albert Breer of SI.com. Grier called Keim about Rosen 20 minutes into the draft, but Breer adds the GMs did not reconnect on the quarterback until Friday afternoon.

“We’d fielded some calls from some people asking if we were willing to move down in the second round,” Grier said, via Breer. “Our goal before the draft was, if we’re able to pick up a first or a second in 2020, that was something we’d consider. But we were more than willing to take a player at (pick No.) 48. There was a player we really liked. And we had a couple calls.

“We were ready to pick at 62 (after a trade with the Saints). And I’m telling you, Steve was pushing hard for what he wanted, and so were we. So we were to a point there where I wasn’t sure if it was going to get done or not.”

Miami’s previous front office studied Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen more closely than Rosen as prospects last year, Breer notes, due to the thinking, at the time, those two had a better chance of dropping to the team’s No. 11 overall draft slot in 2018. Because the Dolphins were able to land Rosen at an extreme discount, compared to his No. 10 overall price last year, Grier said the pick will not stop them from looking at first-round-caliber quarterbacks next year.

“Every team in the league is looking for that guy that’s going to lead them to championships,” Grier said. “And so for us, we’re in a position where we’re trying to find that guy, like a lot of teams in the league. So yeah, it was an easy decision. And it doesn’t stop us from doing anything in the future. Who knows? If things go well and we feel he’s the guy, who knows? But it doesn’t stop us from doing anything.”

The Dolphins were the first team reported to be playing a 2020 long game at quarterback, having been connected to what is expected to be a Tua Tagovailoa– and Justin Herbert-fronted 2020 class for months. They will enter this season with Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick headlining their quarterback room, likely set to observe the former’s development while studying top college prospects. The Cardinals will go into OTAs with Murray and Brett Hundley as the main cogs in their quarterback room.

“I absolutely would have competed if (the Cardinals) kept me, but I would’ve been kind of bummed about it because I knew I wouldn’t get a fair shake,” Rosen said, via Klemko. “A GM’s not going to draft a quarterback and draft another one the next year, higher, and then play the first one. It’s admitting you made two mistakes. It just wouldn’t happen.”

Cardinals To Trade Josh Rosen To Dolphins

April 26th, 2019 at 8:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

Josh Rosen is headed out of Arizona after one season. The Dolphins will be the team that pulls the trigger on the former top-10 pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

It turns out, the Dolphins’ recent trade-down maneuver proved key. The Dolphins will trade their recently acquired No. 62 overall pick to the Cardinals, Schefter added. The teams had discussed the former UCLA quarterback most of the day, with the Cardinals having initially asked for the Dolphins’ first-round pick. Miami then balked at its No. 48 overall choice, but now the teams have agreed. And Rosen and Kyler Murray will not be teammates.

With the pick, the Cardinals selected wideout Andy Isabella out of UMass. The Cardinals will also receive a 2020 fifth-round pick, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

While Rosen’s stock has taken a massive hit after a rough rookie season — when he rated across the board as Football Outsiders’ worst full-time quarterback, albeit in a bad situation — the Dolphins landing a 2018 No. 10 overall pick for the 2019 62nd selection could be immense value. As far as traditional stats go, the 6-foot-4 passer finished with 2,278 yards in 13 games, throwing 11 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions as a 21-year-old rookie.

Kliff Kingsbury said multiple times this offseason Rosen was his quarterback, and the 2018 Cards’ starter reported for the team’s offseason workouts. But the long-rumored Murray pick happened, making the Cardinals the first team since the 1982-83 Baltimore Colts to select first-round quarterbacks in back-to-back years. A day later, Rosen is bound for south Florida.

Rosen, though, is going to a roster that may be worse off than his most recent one. The Dolphins have made no secret of the fact they are rebuilding, and many veterans that were part of the 2018 Miami outfit are no longer there. Contract-wise, this also represents value. Rosen is owed less than $7MM through 2021.

The Dolphins signed Ryan Fitzpatrick, and it is possible the veteran remains their Week 1 starter. Rosen could be allowed to further develop behind Fitzpatrick, but it is fairly safe to assume the formerly coveted prospect will see extensive time this season.

The Redskins and Giants represented the other main players for Rosen, but both NFC East teams took quarterbacks on Thursday night. Miami did not, drafting defensive lineman Christian Wilkins instead. The Broncos traded up in front of the Dolphins on Thursday, grabbing Drew Lock. That may have been the final impetus for the Fins to offer a second-round pick for their possible long-term quarterback solution.

Dolphins, Cardinals Nearing Josh Rosen Trade?

April 26th, 2019 at 1:12pm CST by Rory Parks

The Dolphins and Cardinals are nearing a trade that would send 2018 first-rounder Josh Rosen from the desert to South Beach, per Pro Football Talk (via Twitter). PFT says that the deal, which may be tentatively complete, would see the Dolphins send tonight’s No. 48 overall pick to the Cards.

However, Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network tweets that the No. 48 pick is a little rich for Miami’s blood, so the Fins may ask the Cards to kick in some later-round compensation to balance the scales, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald on Twitter) says that a trade is not close. Albert Breer of TheMMQB agrees with Rapoport, saying that a deal is not done but that the lines of communication are definitely open (Twitter link). The two sides are expected to talk again this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (on Twitter) hears the Dolphins would not give up their No. 48 pick for the QB, which seems to indicate that A. The deal is far from done and B. The Dolphins may be willing to walk if a deal cannot be agreed upon soon.

Initially, the Cardinals asked for a first-round pick, which the Dolphins declined. Miami brass had a third- or fourth-round pick in mind for the 2018 No. 10 overall selection, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. Talks are expected to resume, but Anderson notes the teams are still fairly far apart.

If the trade is completed, it would end one of the more interesting journeys for a first-round QB in recent memory. Everyone in the league seemed to know that Arizona, which traded up in the first round to select Rosen last year, was willing to deal the UCLA product as soon as Kyler Murray declared for this year’s draft. The Cardinals did the expected and made Murray the No. 1 overall pick last night, and we learned today that Arizona GM Steve Keim began shopping Rosen in earnest only minutes before the draft began, so he may have played this one incorrectly.

On the other hand, recouping a second-round pick for Rosen would still be a decent salvage job, as Rosen and Murray cannot feasibly coexist on the Cardinals’ roster, and since several clubs that could have been Rosen suitors selected collegiate passers last night, Keim does not have a ton of leverage at the moment.

From the Dolphins’ perspective, the rebuilding outfit would get a QB with a first-round pedigree who has some flaws and who is coming off a disappointing rookie campaign, but who has a franchise-caliber arm and size. Plus, as Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com tweets, the Cardinals have already paid 65% of Rosen’s rookie contract.

In that sense, it’s a low-risk move for the Dolphins with a potentially high reward. If Rosen — who would presumably compete with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job in 2019 — lives up to his draft status, Miami’s rebuild would be accelerated and it could address a different need with its early draft picks in 2020. If he doesn’t, then the Dolphins will not be much worse off than they are now.

Cardinals Eyeing Byron Murphy

April 26th, 2019 at 10:57am CST by Zachary Links

Washington cornerback Byron Murphy is the heavy favorite to be the first pick of the second round on Friday night, provided that Arizona holds on to the pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Of course, the top choice in the second round is extremely valuable, so it’s entirely possible that another team will be on the clock at No. 33 overall. 

The Cardinals probably aren’t the only team eyeing Murphy and other top cornerbacks left on the board. Only one cornerback was drafted in the first round on Thursday night, leaving LSU’s Greedy Williams, Temple’s Rock Ya-Sin, Michigan State’s Justin Layne, Notre Dame’s Julian Love, Central Michigan’s Sean Bunting, and several others up for grabs.

There were plenty of CB holes to be filled heading into the first round, but general uncertainty about this year’s crop may have stalled things, Browns GM John Dorsey says (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter):

“If you talk to a lot of people around the league, if you talked about the cornerbacks and how they had the cornerbacks rated, I bet you would have 20 different stackings at the cornerback position this year.”

Latest On Cardinals, Josh Rosen

April 26th, 2019 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

Josh Rosen is most definitely available after the Cardinals used their No. 1 overall pick on quarterback Kyler Murray. Rosen, meanwhile, appears to be fed up with the Cardinals. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) notes, Rosen unfollowed the Cardinals on Instagram after last night’s draft. 

[RELATED: Dolphins, Cardinals Discussing Rosen Trade]

Rosen, presumably, wants out of Arizona, but this saga could drag on for a while. The Giants, Dolphins, and Chargers previously discussed Rosen with Cardinals GM Steve Keim, but the Giants are presumably out of the hunt after selecting Duke QB Daniel Jones with the No. 6 overall pick. The same goes for the Redskins after they landed Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, but head coach Jay Gruden says the team wasn’t interested in Rosen anyway (Twitter link via Dianna Russini of ESPN.com).

Meanwhile, Keim didn’t start taking calls and texts on Rosen trade until minutes before the draft started, sources tell Robert Klemko of The MMQB (on Twitter). Keim’s apparent effort to keep the Murray pick under wraps may have hurt him – multiple potential suitors found young QBs of their own and no one came close to offering the first-round pick the Cardinals wanted.

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