- Odds are the Cardinals will sign wide receiver Greg Little after minicamp, Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic tweets. Little likely would have signed with the club after his first tryout, but a hamstring injury got in the way. Little, a second-round of the Browns in 2011, spent three seasons in Cleveland before being waived. Since then, he has had stints with the Raiders, Bills, and Bengals. Little, 29, has played in 54 games with 42 starts over the course of his career. His most productive season came as a rookie when he had 61 catches for 709 yards and two scores. He followed that up with 53 catches for 647 yards and four scores as an NFL sophomore.
Larry Fitzgerald has deliberated about retirement the past two offseasons, and he’s returning to head up the post-Carson Palmer Cardinals offense. But might the future Hall of Famer now be considering playing beyond 2018?
Whispers around the organization point Fitzgerald to a possible future with the team that goes beyond his age-35 season, Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reports. Setting a rough timeline for his hopes, Steve Wilks included the possibility of 2019 and perhaps 2020 in his hopes for the all-time Arizona great.
“I think really that’s a question for him, but I would love to have him back,” Wilks said Wednesday, via Somers. “As I’ve said earlier, next year and maybe even a year after that.”
Fitzgerald’s put together three strong seasons in his early 30s and has made the Pro Bowl in 10 of the past 11 years. His future with the Cards could depend on how quickly Josh Rosen can acclimate, and Arizona does have a new supporting cast of wideouts — headlined by second-rounder Christian Kirk — it’s installing this offseason. Poor quarterback play in between Kurt Warner and Palmer limited Fitzgerald in the early 2010s, so Rosen figures to be an important component to Fitz’s future. As will his fit in Arizona’s new offense after he flourished in Bruce Arians‘.
Fitz, naturally, did not make any big proclamations about a longer-term future.
“I’m just trying to get through February in one piece,” Fitzgerald said, via Somers. “I don’t buy green bananas. I don’t have time to watch ’em ripe. I’ve got to get it now.”
If Fitzgerald stays healthy this season, he will almost certainly surpass Terrell Owens for No. 2 in all-time receiving yards. He has 15,545 in 14 seasons; that’s 389 shy of Owens’ mark. Fitzgerald is 315 receptions away from Jerry Rice‘s standard of 1,549. That’s his best chance to catch one of the legend’s marks, and it would take at least three more seasons to get there. He’s 18 touchdown receptions away from moving into the top five, thus supplanting Marvin Harrison (128).
- David Johnson‘s decision to holdout from the Cardinals is a good call, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap writes. Although new 49ers running back Jerick McKinnon proved to be an exception this offseason, RBs typically do not garner big money in free agency, so Johnson’s best bet for a big contract is to land one as soon as possible with the Cardinals. Fitzgerald expects Johnson’s camp to push for a deal similar to Devonta Freeman‘s $8.25MM/year pact with the Falcons, given that Johnson is also a former mid-round pick and had a better 2016 than Freeman. However, Freeman is the younger player and has had a more consistent career overall. Ultimately, Fitzgerald expects to see a deal that works out for both sides.
The Cardinals are likely to make a free agent addition before the 2018 season begins, as general manager Steve Keim noted on 98.7 FM Tuesday (story via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com).
“I can’t forecast what we’re going to do, but we’ll certainly stay active and continue to look at a number of different positions and players out there on the market,” Keim said. “We’ve done that year in and year out and had some success with some of those guys later on. It’s constantly a fluid deal for us. We will continue to look at the market and gauge where the money goes with certain players. And be aggressive, trying to improve this roster.
“Probably a signing that not many expected, or late in the process that we’ve had success with,” Keim added when asked what type of addition to expect. “Generally they are a guy who we talked to through free agency and the summer, whether it is a Jermaine Gresham, whether it is a Tramon Williams, John Abraham, guys that for whatever reason, whether it is injuries, whether it is financial, things that have changed that these football players are ready to get off the couch and go.”
As Urban indicates, the Cardinals have recently met with two high-profile free agent defensive backs in corner Bashaud Breeland and safety Jamar Taylor, but didn’t reach an agreement with either. Arizona will reportedly re-evaluate Breeland — whose original three-year, $24MM deal with the Panthers was nullified due to a failed physical — later this summer. Boston, meanwhile, has taken other visits, but is part of a safety crop which never got off the ground in free agency.
After signing their entire draft class, the Cardinals still have nearly $16MM in available cap space, per Over the Cap, so the club should have ample funds to deploy on veteran free agents in the coming weeks.
Cardinals running back David Johnson is skipping this week’s mandatory minicamp, league sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Still, there have been discussions regarding a new contract and both sides are hopeful that a deal will come together. 
Johnson scheduled to earn a base salary of $1.8MM in the final year of his deal. After losing the 2017 season to injury, Johnson is understandably concerned about his financial security. If Johnson were to suffer another serious injury this year, he would be left without a safety net and a fairly low floor in free agency, despite all of his past accomplishments.
Even if Johnson gets back to his old form, the Cardinals are armed with the franchise tag, which can be used twice over. In a best case scenario, Johnson may be subject to the whim of the organization and under their control through 2020. If the Cards were to use the franchise tag on Johnson twice (a third tag would likely be too expensive to consider), he would not be in line for unrestricted free agency until the age of 29.
By skipping Tuesday’s practice, Johnson will be subject to a fine of about $14K. It then climbs to roughly $28K on Day 2, and $42K on day three. All in all, Johnson may wind up forfeiting $84K+ if he misses all three days this week. That’s chump change for many players, but that’s not necessarily the case for Johnson, who has earned just $2.3MM in salary over the first three years of his career, despite being one of the best running backs in the game.
Johnson was arguably the league’s best offensive player in 2016 as he racked up more than 2,100 yards from scrimmage and scored 20 touchdowns. He remains one of the NFL’s premier talents at running back, despite missing the majority of the 2017 campaign with a dislocated wrist.
It’s worth noting that Johnson’s lack of service time may prevent him from a prolonged standout with the Cardinals. He could drum up leverage by abstaining from practices, but staying away from the team during the regular season could cost him the games needed to bring him closer to free agency.
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: S Travell Dixon
- Waived/Injured: S Jonathan Owens
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: DT Joey Mbu
New York Giants
- Signed: CB Kenneth Durden, OT Jarron Jones
- Cut: OT Tyler Howell
- There are a number of receivers who could realistically slide in behind Larry Fitzgerald on the Cardinals‘ depth chart, but even head coach Steve Wilks doesn’t have clarity on the situation. “It’s hard to say right now who will be that number two,” Wilks told Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. “We’re still working, and those guys understand and know — we talk about it all the time — the best 11 are going to play. We create competition.” Roster Resource currently has JJ Nelson, Christian Kirk, Brice Butler, Chad Williams, and Cobi Hamilton rounding out Arizona’s top-six.
[SOURCE LINK]
Sam Bradford‘s tenure as the Cardinals’ unquestioned starting quarterback didn’t last long. Just a month after signing a one-year $20MM deal with an option for a second year, the Cardinals selected Josh Rosen 10th overall. The move suggested that the Cardinals don’t view Bradford as their longterm answer, and see him more as a bridge quarterback/stopgap option.
If Bradford plays well though, it will be hard for the Cardinals to turn to Rosen and Bradford has certainly shown he’s capable of playing at a high level when he’s able to stay healthy. Bradford’s health may end up being the determining factor for when Rosen sees the field, and Bradford is apparently now beginning to ramp up his on-field work according to Mike Jurecki (Twitter link).
- Despite a recent report that the Cardinals wanted to re-evaluate cornerback Bashaud Breeland in a “few weeks”, Jurecki tweets that “as of today, he’s not on the radar” for the Cardinals. Breeland agreed to a three-year, $24MM deal with the Panthers earlier this offseason, but the deal was nullified due to a foot injury Breeland suffered.
David Johnson has only played extensively in one of his first three seasons in the NFL. After backing up Chris Johnson as a rookie in 2015, Johnson had a record-setting sophomore season in which he rushed for 1,293 yards and racked up another 879 through the air with 20 total touchdowns. Last year, he was lost for the season after just one game. Despite the relatively small sample size, the Cardinals are committed to Johnson as the center of their offense, and appear ready to lock him up longterm.
Johnson and the Cardinals are likely to get an extension done before the season, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). While Garafolo cautioned there’s “work to be done to get there”, he does believe it’ll get done before the season. The Cardinals clearly saw during his one season as their starter just how special of a player he can be, and want to extend him before he hits the open market at the end of this season.
Johnson reportedly has been sitting out some of the Cardinals’ OTAs with an injury, but a source told Kent Somers of the AZcentral.com that the injury is not serious. Somers added that Johnson is expected to participate in the three-day minicamp the Cardinals will hold next week.
Justin Pugh ultimately signed a five-year, $45MM deal with the Cardinals this offseason, but the phone wasn’t exactly ringing off the hook when Pugh hit the open market on the first day of free agency, as Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com writes. “I thought I would get all these calls,” said Pugh. “Saw [Andrew] Norwell get signed [to a 5-year, $66.5MM with the Jaguars] and thinking I’m breaking the bank. And, you know, coming off an injury, coming off the season that we had, you get humbled a little bit. That is kind of what happened. You win three games in a season, not many things are going to go well for you.”
While Pugh landed a $9MM annual average, he didn’t reset the positional market as did Norwell. Pugh, who has the ability to play tackle but will start at right guard for the Cardinals, ranks seventh at his position in terms of yearly value, and 14th in full guarantees. For what it’s worth, Pugh’s former employer — the Giants — never contacted the former first-round pick once he reached free agency.
- Tight end Jermaine Gresham suffered a torn Achilles in Week 17 of the 2017 regular season, but the Cardinals are “hopeful” he’ll be ready to play in time for Week 1, tweets Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. If Gresham isn’t available, Arizona would turn to last year’s breakout in Ricky Seals-Jones, while fellow tight ends Gabe Holmes, Bryce Williams, and Beau Sandland could also be in line for more looks. Gresham, who turns 30 next week, posted 33 receptions for 322 yards and two scores last season. In other Gresham news, he’s recently become something of a viral sensation after helping a fellow airline passenger, as Katherine Fitzgerald of the Arizona Republic details.