- The possibility of free agent quarterback Blaine Gabbert signing with the Cardinals “remains alive,” tweets Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. Gabbert has an important fan in Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, per Somers.
Daryl Washington has been cleared by the league to return to football, but the Cardinals have some questions first. Cardinals GM Steve Keim says the team wants to sit down with owner Michael Bidwell, coach Bruce Arians, and the linebacker to determine the next step. 
“To be quite honest with you, we have had dialogue with his agent, but have not have had a chance to talk with Daryl yet, just because of how busy we have been,” Keim told SiriusXM (transcript via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com). “We will attend to that in the near future and obviously get a chance to talk to Daryl and see what is going on…There will be a sit-down…an educational briefing on ‘Just where have you been the last three years, what’s going on in your life?’ Once that meeting occurs, there will be a decision made.”
Washington earned a Pro Bowl selection in 2012 and he was still productive in 2013, but that’s the last we’ve seen of him on an NFL field. Washington was hit with an indefinite suspension in 2014 for a substance abuse violation, so the Cardinals say that they want to get caught up on the last three years.
Previous reports have indicated that the Cardinals are not interested in taking Washington back. At minimum, however, he’ll have an opportunity to make his case face-to-face with the team’s most important decision makers.
The Cardinals have signed Tony Bergstrom to a one-year deal, according to a team announcement. The offensive lineman spent last year with Houston, but he was released by the team last month. 
Bergstrom appeared in 15 games as a backup for the Texans, but he did not see a whole lot of burn. The soon-to-be 31-year-old offers experience at both tackle and guard, so he could see increased opportunities in Houston.
The Cardinals added two offensive linemen in last week’s draft by selecting Pittsburgh’s Dorian Johnson in the fourth round and Vanderbilt’s Will Holden in the fifth round. With the two rookies and Bergstrom now in the fold, the Cardinals have 10+ offensive linemen under contract.
The Cardinals and vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough recently agreed to a four-year extension, as McDonough tells Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). McDonough presumably inked a new deal with Arizona following his dalliance with the 49ers this offseason.
McDonough was one of 11 candidates known to have interviewed for the vacant 49ers general manager position in January, and was thought to be one of the final contenders for the position, along with Vikings executive George Paton. Both McDonough and Murphy completed two interviews with San Francisco, but the open GM job instead went to John Lynch, who had no experience in personnel.
Though McDonough is now locked up in the desert for the long term, his extension shouldn’t prevent him from pursuing general manager posts in the future. McDonough doesn’t have final say on personnel matters with the Cardinals — that belongs to GM Steve Keim — so Arizona can’t block him from interviewing for promotions. And given the Cards’ effusive praise of McDonough during the last hiring cycle, they likely wouldn’t have any interest in stopping him from advancing, anyway.
McDonough has worked in Arizona since the 2013 campaign. Prior to that, McDonough spent a decade with the Jaguars, and also worked for the Browns/Ravens franchise before and after its transition to Baltimore.
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: CB Brian Dixon
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived: LB Cavellis Luckett
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: CB Tyler Patmon
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: K Brett Maher
Detroit Lions
- Waived: CB Ian Wells (failed physical)
New England Patriots
- Claimed off waivers: WR Devin Street
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived/injured: DT Aziz Shittu, WR Dom Williams
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Waived: RB Brandon Brown-Dukes, RB Gus Johnson, WR Canaan Severin, CB Al-Hajj Shabazz
Washington Redskins
- Waived LB Steven Daniels,WR Reggie Diggs, LB Rufus Johnson, OL Quinton Schooley
The Cardinals are in talks with quarterback Blaine Gabbert, according to a source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Arizona will work out Gabbert this week, reports Kent Somers of the Republic.
Gabbert, 28 in October, went 1-4 in five games as the 49ers’ starter last season. His completion percentage of 56.9% and five touchdowns against six interceptions left much to be desired.
The Cardinals already have three QBs on the roster in Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton, and Zac Dysert. If Gabbert is signed, it’s not immediately clear what that could mean for the two backups already in the fold.
Gabbert, the 10th overall pick in 2011, hasn’t yet experienced success in his six-year NFL career, and he hasn’t drawn any other known interest since free agency opened in March. Gabbert is PFR’s No. 6 free agent quarterback.
The Cardinals announced that they have signed 17 undrafted free agents. Here’s the complete list:
- WR Carlton Agudosi (Rutgers)
- DT Collin Bevins (NW Missouri State)
- C Lucas Crowley (North Carolina)
- S Ironhead Gallon (Georgia Southern)
- S Gump Hayes (Arizona State)
- WR Krishawn Hogan (Marian)
- S Drico Johnson (Central Florida)
- OLB Tre’Von Johnson (Weber State)
- QB Trevor Knight (Texas A&M)
- CB Ryan Lewis (Pittsburgh)
- T Jonathan McLaughlin (Virginia Tech)
- S Cyril Noland-Lewis (Louisiana Tech)
- TE Ricky Seals-Jones (Texas A&M)
- CB Sojourn Shelton (Wisconsin)
- RB James Summers (East Carolina)
- DT Pasoni Tasini (Utah)
- TE Steven Wroblewski (Southern Utah)
The Cardinals apparently had some competition to sign Shelton as they gave him $25K to sign (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of USA Today). Coming out of Florida, Shelton was a four-star recruit and he went on to be a four-year starter for the Badgers. However, his lack of size probably prevented him from being drafted. The 5’9″, 177-pound corner will now look to make it from the Cardinals 90-man roster to the 53-man version.
- The Cardinals landed guard Dorian Johnson in the fourth round of this year’s draft, even though his talent level should have made him a Day 2 selection. Johnson has a liver condition that made a number of clubs wary of making him a second- or third-round choice, and Johnson’s agent, Joe Panos, took exception to his client’s slide, saying, “I had GMs tell me they couldn’t risk a 2nd or 3rd on Dorian due to the recent discovery of a liver condition he’s had since birth, even though his heptalogist said his condition will in no way affect his ability to play. Teams couldn’t risk a high pick on him. Yet every year I see teams risk high picks on guys with serious character issues. Bad guys. They’ll take risks on those guys because his coaches ‘vouched’ for him. [A coach’s] word is gold. But Dorian’s heptalogist, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?” (all links go to Twitter via ESPN’s Adam Caplan).
The Cardinals have acquired pick No. 208 from the Raiders in exchange for the No. 221 and No. 231 picks.
Arizona will select Auburn safety Johnathan Ford.
The Panthers have acquired the 77th pick from the Cardinals in exchange for Nos. 98 and 115, tweets Arizona’s vice president of media relations, Mark Dalton.
Carolina has selected Texas A&M defensive lineman Daeshon Hall, who saw significant playing time in each of his four seasons with the Aggies. The 260-pounder was particularly effective over the previous two years, combining for 27.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in 25 games.
Hall, who played second fiddle to No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett in college, will inject some youth into a Panthers defensive line that features accomplished pass rushers in Julius Peppers, Mario Addison and Charles Johnson. All three are over the age of 30.