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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Cardinals Release LB Arthur Moats From IR

October 9th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals have released linebacker Arthur Moats from injured reserve, according to Mike Florio of PFT (on Twitter). Moats is now free to sign with any club of his choosing, provided that he is healthy.

The Cards signed the 30-year-old defender in July after a four-season run with the Steelers. Unfortunately, he suffered a sprained MCL in Arizona’s third preseason game and was subsequently placed on IR. Because he was placed on IR before the start of the season, he was not eligible to return in 2018 for Arizona.

Moats has started 45 games over the last eight years in the NFL. The 2010 sixth-rounder appeared in 14 games for the Steelers last season, finishing with eight tackles. Between 2014 and 2016, Moats compiled at least 3.5 sacks per season, so the veteran may still have something left in the tank.

With Moats officially out of the picture, the Cardinals are a bit thin at linebacker. The team is currently rostering only three outside linebackers in Haason Reddick, Deone Bucannon, and Dennis Gardeck, although they could give a look at backup middle linebackers Gerald Hodges and Joe Walker.

Cowboys To Sign Darian Thompson

October 9th, 2018 at 1:34pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys are signing safety Darian Thompson off of the Cardinals’ practice squad, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Thompson was a third-round pick of the Giants in 2016, but he has yet to find his footing in the NFL. 

Thompson’s would-be rookie season was mostly lost to a Lisfranc injury suffered in training camp. He started in all 16 of his games in 2017, but a hamstring injury held him back in the summer. The Giants’ new regime didn’t feel that he was worth keeping and cut him with an injury designation on Sept. 1.

The move was a head-scratcher for some, but Thompson graded out as just the 66th-ranked safety in the NFL last year, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. Thompson could not find a 53-man deal when he first hit the open market, but the Cowboys have a role in mind for him after plucking him from Arizona’s p-squad.

Thompson is a Boise State product and he’ll find plenty of fellow alums in Dallas. Cowboys stars Leighton Vander Esch, Tyrone Crawford, and Demarcus Lawrence all wore orange and blue before donning navy, silver, and white.

Cardinals To Sign WR Kendall Wright

October 8th, 2018 at 4:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Kendall Wright spent the preseason with the Vikings but didn’t make the team. He’ll now join the team that’s playing the Vikings on Sunday.

The Cardinals announced they’ve signed the veteran wide receiver. It’s a one-year deal for Wright, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Arizona waived cornerback Deatrick Nichols to make room on the roster.

Having gone from leading the Bears in receiving last season, to being a Vikings preseason cut, to traversing the workout circuit, Wright will begin his seventh NFL season with the campaign more than a quarter complete. His latest such workout came with Arizona in mid-September. The 28-year-old wideout also auditioned for the Patriots, Redskins and Jaguars.

Since Wright is primarily a slot receiver, this is an interesting fit. The Cardinals typically use one of the greatest wideouts in NFL history in the slot, but Larry Fitzgerald has been battling a hamstring issue.

Fitzgerald’s been playing through it but hasn’t contributed his usual stellar work for the Cards just yet (17 receptions, 176 yards, no touchdowns). However, Arizona’s offense struggling as a whole is also contributing to Fitz’s stat lines. Josh Rosen completed just 10 passes on Sunday in the Cardinals’ first 2018 win.

Should he play in a regular-season game with the Cards, this will be Wright’s third team. The Titans used a first-round pick on the former Baylor pass-catcher in 2012 and employed him for five years, the last two with Wright being a marginal contributor. He signed with the Bears last season and caught 59 passes for 614 yards and a touchdown last season. Wright’s best work came back in 2013, when he hauled in 94 passes for 1,079 yards. He scored a career-high six touchdowns in 2014.

Haason Reddick, Deone Bucannon On The Trade Block?

October 7th, 2018 at 10:36am CST by Rory Parks

The Cardinals drafted former Temple standout Haason Reddick with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 draft in the hopes that his explosive athleticism would serve him well as a pass rusher and as a run stopper. But Reddick’s development has not gone as planned, as he has played just 30 defensive snaps in the first four weeks of the 2018 season and has struggled to grasp new head coach Steve Wilks‘ defense.

Reddick lost his job as the team’s starting strong side linebacker to veteran journeyman Gerald Hodges, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says that there does not appear to be any change in that regard moving forward. As such, La Canfora writes that other teams are considering a possible trade for Reddick, whose potential is still quite high. While it does not sound as though the Cardinals are actively shopping Reddick, La Canfora says they are generally “willing listeners,” so they may be fielding a lot of calls as we get closer to the October 30 trade deadline.

Another former first-round pick, Deone Bucannon, enjoyed plenty of success during his four-year run with the Cardinals from 2014-17. But like Reddick, Bucannon is not being utilized very much in Wilks’ scheme, which is not a great fit for his smaller body type and his hybrid safety/linebacker skills. Bucannon is eligible for free agency this offseason, and he would probably welcome a trade to a team that can make better use of his skill-set during this pivotal year in his career. Indeed, La Canfora says Bucannon will generate a lot of trade interest as well in the next few weeks.

The 0-4 Cardinals will not be competing for a playoff spot this year, and if they are committed to Wilks in the long-term, it may make sense for them to move Reddick and Bucannon in exchange for draft capital that they can use in their rebuild.

Browns, Cardinals To Work Out WR Rishard Matthews

October 6th, 2018 at 12:29pm CST by Ben Levine

More than a week after being released by the Titans, Rishard Matthews has his first workouts. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the wideout is set to audition for the Browns on Monday and the Cardinals on Tuesday.

The wideout asked for (and was granted) his release from the Titans in late September. Since then, Matthews hadn’t generated much interest, but he did hire agent Drew Rosenhaus earlier this week. The 28-year-old was previously representing himself, and as our own Zach Links pointed out, it was essential for Matthews to team with a powerful agent to move past the perception that he quit on Tennessee.

Of course, Matthews’ play on the field hasn’t helped his free agent status, either. The former seventh-round pick was only targeted six times in three games, hauling in three receptions for 11 yards. He also had four punt returns for 38 yards. Of course, he’s not even two years removed from a 2016 campaign where he compiled 945 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

The Cardinals had previously been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Mathews, along with the Cowboys, Patriots, Bills, and Seahawks. Arizona has 616 receiving yards through four games, the worst mark in the NFL. Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk have combined for 290 of those yards, and Mathews could logically slide in ahead of Chad Williams, JJ Nelson, and Trent Sherfield on the depth chart.

The Browns’ receiving corps hasn’t been nearly as dismal as the Cardinals’ grouping, although it still hasn’t been all that inspiring. Jarvis Landry is slotted in atop the depth chart, but neither Antonio Callaway not Rashard Higgins have emerged as a consistent number-two option. Matthews could provide some competition for that grouping. At the very least, he could slot in ahead of Derrick Willies, Rod Streater, and Damion Ratley.

NFL Workout Updates: 10/2/18

October 2nd, 2018 at 9:17pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • T Andrew Nelson (link)

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Practice Squad Updates: 10/2/18

October 2nd, 2018 at 4:07pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/1/18

October 1st, 2018 at 6:50pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Here are the latest practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans

  • Signed: WR Cyril Grayson
  • Placed on practice squad injured-reserve: WR Jester Weah

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: DL Jonathan Wynn
  • Cut: LB Garret Dooley

New York Jets

 

Wilks Denies Bradford Demotion Motivated By Money

September 30th, 2018 at 9:31pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg
  • After promoting Josh Rosen to be the team’s starter, the Cardinals made an interesting decision to demote Sam Bradford to third string and make Mike Glennon the backup. Many assumed the decision was because Bradford would no longer earn his per game roster bonuses of over $300K as an inactive third-stringer, but Arizona coach Steve Wilks denied that after the game today. Wilks said the decision was all his and not forced on him by the front office, and that it was just about “making the best decision for the team” according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN (Twitter link).

Sam Bradford Demoted To No. 3 QB

September 30th, 2018 at 10:17am CST by Rory Parks
  • Sam Bradford is now the Cardinals‘ No. 3 quarterback, per Schefter, who says that going forward, rookie Josh Rosen will be the starter and will be backed up by Mike Glennon (Twitter link). That means that Bradford will generally be inactive on game days and will miss out on his active roster bonuses of $312,500 per game, a situation we explored in more detail last week.
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