- Offensive guard Alex Boone‘s one-year deal with the Cardinals is worth $1.4MM, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). Boone, 30, can also make another $600K via playtime incentives. Additionally, Boone is scheduled to earn $3.4MM as part of his Vikings contract, which does not contain offset language. Boone will begin his Arizona tenure as a backup, but could conceivably start later in the season.
Superstar running back David Johnson suffered a sprained wrist in the Cardinals’ loss to the Lions today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Johnson will undergo an MRI on Monday which will determine whether he’ll be sidelined for a few weeks or “half the season or more”, a source tells Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link). However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that it’s not yet definite that Johnson will miss any time.
Losing Johnson for several games would represent a massive detriment to the Arizona offense, while an absence of “half the season” could be a death knell for the Cardinals. Arguably the NFL’s best offensive player in 2016, Johnson led the league in yards from scrimmage and scored 20 total touchdowns.
Without Johnson, the Cardinals would turn to a running back corps that includes Kerwynn Williams — who posted a touchdown on five carries today — Andre Ellington, and Elijhaa Penny. James Summers, currently on Arizona’s practice squad, is a candidate for promotion, while the Cardinals could also look at veteran Chris Johnson, whom they released during final cutdowns.
Johnson wasn’t the only Arizona offensive player to go down on Sunday, as left tackle D.J. Humphries suffered a knee sprain and is out for several weeks.
Cardinals left tackle D.J. Humphries is believed to sprained his right knee during today’s contest against the Panthers, and will likely be sidelined for a “few” weeks, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Arizona moved Humphries, a former first-round pick, from right tackle to left tackle heading into the 2017 season, shifting veteran Jared Veldheer from the blindside to right tackle in the process. As such, the Cardinals could potentially place Veldheer back at left tackle while Humphries is out, but that’s not what the club did today.
John Wetzel, who started eight games for Arizona a season ago, replaced Humphries against Carolina on Sunday. In 67 offensive snaps, Wetzel earned a sub-par 35.4 graded from Pro Football Focus, which ranked Wetzel as the third-worst tackle among 39 Sunday participants.
Over the next four weeks, the Cardinals face the Colts, Cowboys, 49ers, and Eagles.
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: LB Scooby Wright
- Released: LB Philip Wheeler
Chicago Bears
- Released from IR: RB Ka’Deem Carey, QB Connor Shaw
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: LB B.J. Bello, DB Kai Nacua
Detroit Lions
- Released from IR: WR Dez Stewart
Houston Texans
- Released from IR: TE Rashaun Allen, S Lonnie Ballentine, CB Denzel Rice, DB Malik Smith
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: OL Josh Walker
New England Patriots
- Released from IR: DT Josh Augusta, WR Devin Lucien
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: T Bryce Harris
- Waived: RB Daniel Lasco
- Released from IR: TE John Phillips
Seattle Seahawks
- Released from IR: DT Rodney Coe
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released from IR: QB Sefo Liufau
Washington Redskins
- Released from IR: TE E.J. Bibbs, LB Ron Thompson Jr., LB Lynden Trail
- For now, new Cardinals guard Alex Boone will serve as a backup. “He’s just learning,” coach Bruce Arians told reporters (Twitter link via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com). “We’ll see. Right now, it’d probably have to be an injury or someone really fail badly. … We’ll see. Right now, it’d probably have to be an injury or someone really fail badly.” Boone started for five straight seasons, lining up as a first-teamer for the 49ers and Vikings.
- Cardinals punter Andy Lee‘s new contract calls for base salaries of $1MM per year in 2017 and 2018, Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM tweets. Arizona is hoping that Lee, 35, will help to turn around one of the league’s poorest punting units from 2016.
- The Cardinals worked out running back Darius Victor on Wednesday, according to Herbie Teope of the Times-Picayune (Twitter link), who reports Victor has another audition on Monday for an unidentified team. Victor, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Towson, spent a month on New Orleans’ roster earlier this summer but was waived during final cutdowns. He’s likely a candidate for Arizona’s practice squad.
The Patriots auditioned some players of note this week, including linebacker Akeem Ayers, quarterback Thad Lewis, and wide receiver Jeremy Ross (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com).
Ayers has some history with New England after playing on their 2014 Super Bowl championship team. Last year, Ayers appeared in all 16 games for Indianapolis and recorded two sacks.
Linebackers Nicholas Grigsby and Antwione Williams also showed their stuff for the Pats.
Here’s a look at Wednesday’s other workouts from around the NFL:
- The Jets worked out former Maryland cornerback Alvin Hill, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
- Canadian defensive tackle Stefan Charles worked out for the Giants on Tuesday, John Kryk of The Toronto Sun tweets.
- The Cardinals worked out wide receivers Donteea Dye, Cobi Hamilton, and Rashad Ross, as Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com tweets.
- The Bills auditioned defensive backs Ironhead Gallon, Lee Hightower, Rickey Jefferson, Marcus McWilson, Orion Stewart, and Jack Tocho, linebackers Kenneth Olugbode, defensive tackle Marcus Hardison, running back Connor Harris, and tackle De’Ondre Wesley, according to Balzer (via Twitter links).
- The Buccaneers auditioned quarterback Trevor Knight, wide receivers C.J. Board and Jake Lampman, and tackles Justin Murray and Avery Young, Balzer tweets.
- The Packers took a look at running back Jacob Huesman, Balzer tweets.
- The Colts auditioned linebacker Travis Feeney and defensive backs Jordan Moore, Taurean Nixon, Ezra Robinson, and Deron Washington, Balzer tweets.
- The Giants auditioned defensive backs B.W. Webb Brandon Dixon, and Jeremiah McKinnon, Balzer tweets.
It does not look like Deone Bucannon will be returning as soon as the Cardinals hoped. The fourth-year linebacker re-aggravated the ankle injury that’s defined his offseason, Bruce Arians said Monday (via Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com, on Twitter).
Arians said the linebacker sprained his ankle on his first day back at practice, which came early last week. The fifth-year Cardinals coach added (via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com, on Twitter) Bucannon has “no chance” to play Sunday in Arizona’s opener.
Bucannon was on track to be ready by Sunday prior to the setback, Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic tweets, and Arians noted this could be a multi-game absence. The Cardinals have Karlos Dansby and first-rounder Haason Reddick in place now that Bucannon is out. Philip Wheeler and Josh Bynes are also in the mix as new additions.
The only member of Arizona’s 2016 inside-linebacking corps set to return this season, Bucannon underwent ankle surgery in May and missed almost all of the Cards’ offseason work. He finished with 89 tackles last season in 13 games.
- No offset language existed in Alex Boone‘s Vikings contract, Joel Corry of CBS Sports notes (on Twitter), so Minnesota will be stuck with $3.5MM in dead money on this year’s cap. Terms of Boone’s Cardinals deal are not yet disclosed, but it won’t go toward helping the Vikings offset dead money remaining on the four-year, $26.8MM contract they authorized for Boone last year.
Free agent guard Alex Boone has agreed to terms with the Cardinals, according to his agents at Schwartz & Feinsod. Arizona announced the deal as a one-year pact.
Boone was a surprise cut by Minnesota prior to the 53-man deadline this weekend. Just last year, the Vikings inked him to a four-year, $26.8MM deal with $10MM guaranteed. After a so-so year, the Vikings decided to cut ties and save some dollars.
In Arizona, Boone could displace Evan Boehm as the team’s starting right guard. If he does, he’ll once again start opposite of Mike Iupati.
A 14-game starter for Minnesota in 2016, Boone ranked as the NFL’s No. 37 guard among 75 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus, which assigned him high marks for his pass blocking but poor scores in the run game. During his best years as a member of the Niners, Boone was regarded as an above-average starter and even earned a second-team All-Pro selection in 2012.
This week, Boone expressed interest in signing with the Dolphins and reuniting with ex-Niners offensive line coach Chris Foerster. He’s a long way from Miami, but he is still joining a team with playoff potential.