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DeAndre Hopkins Considering Appeal Of PED Suspension?

June 24th, 2022 at 10:12am CST by Adam La Rose

The Cardinals lost a significant member of their offense before the 2022 season even began when it was announced that DeAndre Hopkins would miss the first six games of the campaign due to a PED suspension. The wideout originally withdrew his appeal of the ban, but he remains hopeful that its length can ultimately be reduced. 

When speaking publicly for the first time since the suspension was handed down, Hopkins said, “We’re still doing some research right now” (video link via 12News’ Cameron Clark). “Hopefully, before the season starts, maybe we can get the games down a little bit. But no, it wasn’t on me. I’m a natural. I’m pretty much a naturopathic kind of person… And what it was, it was called Ostarine, and there was 0.1% of it found in my system.

“I don’t take any supplements… I barely take vitamins. So for something like that to happen to me, obviously, I was shocked. But my team and I, we’re still trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Kevin Patra of NFL.com notes that any reduction is “unlikely” at this point, given that the official announcement of the suspension would have been made after the opportunity for an appeal had come and gone. It remains all-but guaranteed, then, that Arizona will be without the three-time All-Pro to begin the season, extending his absence from the field dating back to the injuries which kept him sidelined at the end of the 2021 campaign.

Hopkins is confident that he will be fully recovered by the time he is eligible to return. In the meantime, the Cardinals will rely on Marquise Brown, whom they traded for at the draft, and former second-rounder Rondale Moore, who flashed potential as a rookie last year. Upon his return, Hopkins will add to that pass-catching corps, giving Arizona a chance to take a step forward in terms of offensive consistency throughout the season.

Cardinals Sign Josh Jackson, Ben Niemann

June 16th, 2022 at 5:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

After working out with the Cardinals during their minicamp this week, cornerback Josh Jackson and linebacker Ben Niemann landed spots on the team’s 90-man offseason roster. The team announced the signings Thursday afternoon.

Kliff Kingsbury indicated earlier this month the Cardinals would pursue veteran corners. That comment came not long after the news offseason addition Jeff Gladney died in a car accident May 30.

The Cardinals will be Jackson’s fourth team. The former second-round Packers draftee spent last year with the Giants, who acquired him from the Packers via trade, and the Chiefs, who gave Jackson a practice squad spot after the Giants waived him midseason. The Chiefs used Jackson in two regular-season games as well. The Iowa product’s NFL stock has dropped considerably, but he will have an opportunity to catch on with a Cards team light at corner.

Jackson, 26, started 10 games with Green Bay as a rookie in 2018 but has lined up as a first-stringer in only five contests since. He allowed a whopping 86% of the passes thrown his way to be completed in 2019, with that figure only dropping to 74% in 2020. The Packers, who drafted Eric Stokes in the 2021 first round, moved on via the trade — a straight-up swap for corner Isaac Yiadom. Jackson did not see any regular-season time with the Giants.

Niemann joined Jackson on the 2021 Chiefs and played for Kansas City throughout his rookie contract. The Chiefs used Niemann as a five-game starter in each of the past two seasons. While he did not start any of Kansas City’s playoff contests during his four-year Missouri run, the former UDFA played in each postseason game. Niemann, 27 in July, and Jackson were Hawkeyes teammates.

Arizona, which waived safety Javon Hagan on Thursday as well, has questions at corner beyond top cover man Byron Murphy. It would not surprise if the Cards signed a starter-caliber corner ahead of training camp. The team has first-rounders Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins stationed at linebacker, with the latter ticketed to start after the team’s Jordan Hicks release. The Cards did not draft an off-ball linebacker this year but have Tanner Vallejo, Joe Walker and seventh-year vet Nick Vigil rostered.

Cardinals Work Out RB Justin Jackson, CB Josh Jackson

June 16th, 2022 at 12:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

Among the players currently with the Cardinals on a tryout basis are a pair who share the same last name. Running back Justin Jackson and cornerback Josh Jackson have been in Arizona during the team’s minicamp, as noted by team reporter Darren Urban (Twitter link). 

The former was a seventh-round pick of the Chargers in 2018. His workload remained consistent throughout his time there, never averaging more than six carries per game. Not surprisingly, his rushing totals remained almost identical for his first three seasons, though he had a career-year in 2021.

Playing in 14 games last year, the Northwestern alum totalled 364 rushing yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards per carry along the way. He added 187 yards in the passing game, to give him a new mark in scrimmage yards (542 yards). That wasn’t enough to earn him a second contract from Los Angeles, however; the team still has Joshua Kelly as a backup to Austin Ekeler, and drafted Isaiah Spiller in the fourth round this year.

In Arizona, Jackson would join a backfield which lost Chase Edmonds in free agency, but still includes 2021 starter James Conner. The Cardinals have also signed Darrell Williams and added Keaontay Ingram in the draft, so Jackson would again face healthy competition for carries.

As for the other Jackson, who was also a 2018 draftee, a deal with Arizona would lead him to his fourth career team. A second round pick of the Packers, he played in Green Bay for the first three seasons of his NFL tenure, totalling 86 tackles and 12 passes defensed. Last August, he was traded to the Giants for fellow corner Isaac Yiadom.

The Iowa product didn’t see any playing time in New York, however, and was ultimately waived in October. He was quickly signed onto Kanas City’s practice squad, and ended up making two appearances with the Chiefs. Like his namesake, Jackson could find a depth role on the Cardinals’ roster to fill out their CB room.

Cardinals Seeking Long-Term Deal With Marquise Brown

June 16th, 2022 at 9:07am CST by Adam La Rose

The Cardinals made one of the biggest splashes during the draft when they acquired Marquise Brown. While they have time to work out a new contract with him, they are clearly seeking to do just that in the near future. 

Arizona sent a first round pick to the Ravens for ‘Hollywood’ during Day 1 of the draft, honoring what, it was revealed shortly thereafter, had been a longstanding trade request. With the Cardinals, he is poised to be involved in a much more pass-happy offense than the one in Baltimore he is leaving. That rings true in particular with respect to the first six games of the 2022 season, during which DeAndre Hopkins will be serving a PED suspension.

As the team’s top receiving option for that stretch, Brown will have the opportunity to build off of his first career 1,000-yard season as he reunites with former college teammate Kyler Murray. The 25-year-old would help his cause, financially speaking, with another productive season. He has two more years on his rookie pact, including the fifth-year option in 2023, but the Cardinals will look to have him under contract for longer than that, considering the price they paid to acquire him.

“Yeah, we’d love to get it done” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said, via USA Today’s Tyler Dragon, when asked about an extension for Brown. “Hollywood is a guy that we see as a long-term answer.”

A second contract for Brown would be complicated by a number of factors. One is the seismic shift which has taken place in the WR market this offseason; 11 wideouts are now on contracts worth at least $20MM per season. While Brown may not reach that plateau on an extension, his price will no doubt be inflated by the other recent deals signed by young receivers. The Cardinals also have to consider the ramifications of an extension for Murray, which could be coming shortly, and the financial situation the team will be in after it is signed.

In addition to their top remaining offseason priority, this situation will be one worth watching for the Cardinals in the weeks to come.

Latest On Cardinals Offensive Line

June 14th, 2022 at 6:04pm CST by Ben Levine

Rodney Hudson is a no-show in Arizona. The veteran center hasn’t attended Cardinals mandatory minicamp and doesn’t have an excused absence, coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters (via Darren Urban of the team’s website). The coach wouldn’t reveal why Hudson was staying away from the team, just noting that the two sides were “working through something.”

[RELATED: Center Billy Price To Visit Cardinals]

Hudson was acquired by the Cardinals last offseason, and he started each of his 12 games in 2021 while missing a handful of appearances thanks to rib and shoulder injuries. The 32-year-old still has two years remaining on the three-year, $30MM extension he signed Arizona following his trade from the Raiders. Of course, the offensive lineman’s absence may have nothing to do with money, and considering the Cardinals don’t really have a path to get out of his 2022 salary, it’d make more sense if the front office pursued a reworked deal next offseason. We’ll likely learn more about the situation if Hudson’s absence extends into the preseason.

With the Cardinals down a man, the organization has turned to veteran guard Justin Pugh to pick up the slack at center. Speaking to reporters, Pugh said switching positions could ultimately extend his career.

“I could see myself playing center,” Pugh said. “I’ve capped out money-wise at guard. Why not go out and see if I can play center? In this offseason, with Kyler (Murray), center is a very important position. There are a lot of centers that play older in their years, because physically it’s not as demanding. Mentally it’s much more intense, and that’s where I think I can succeed.

“We’ll try it out. We’ll see how it goes. If I don’t play real well, you’ll see me at left guard.”

Pugh also admitted that he considered hanging up his cleats following the 2021 campaign, and he made it clear that his frustration was due to the pay cut he accepted prior to the season. Ultimately, Pugh re-signed with the organization this offseason on a one-year, $5.5MM pact, and while he ultimately decided to let bygones be bygones, he still sounded a bit worked up about the money he had to sacrifice last year.

“All of a sudden, it’s ‘I’m going to cut your pay,’ and I don’t care what you do, someone cuts your pay by 33 percent, you’re not going to be happy,” Pugh said. “Then you factor in how much you love the game, how much you love being around the guys, how much you love to compete, and there is no dollar amount that can fill that gap.”

Other than Pugh, the Cardinals have limited options at center. As Urban writes, veteran Sean Harlow has some experience playing the position, but similar to Pugh, he’s more of an offensive guard. The team has also tried rookie guard Lecitus Smith at the position throughout minicamp. The team also brought in Billy Price on a free agent visit.

Cardinals Discussing Reunion With Robert Alford, Eyeing Veteran CBs

June 7th, 2022 at 2:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following Jeff Gladney‘s tragic death last week, the Cardinals have a glaring need at cornerback. They had signed Gladney in March, going ahead with a second chance for the former Vikings first-round pick. But Gladney and his girlfriend died in a car accident May 30.

Byron Murphy remains the Cardinals’ top cornerback, but uncertainty surrounds the versatile cover man. The circumstances have moved the Cardinals toward a familiar face. Kliff Kingsbury said Tuesday (via SI.com’s Howard Balzer) the team has been in contact with Robert Alford, who played for the Cardinals last season after missing two full years due to injury.

Alford is 33, however, and missed four games last season after his two-year absence. The Cardinals hosted the veteran defender in March, doing so not long after signing Gladney. Circling back to Alford would be reasonable, given his familiarity with Vance Joseph‘s scheme, though there are several available corners who would be upgrades on what Arizona rosters now.

“That’s a tragic situation and we understand that, but we’re always trying to improve our roster,” Kingsbury said of the Cards’ cornerback circumstances. “And that’s a position that we’d like to bring in a few more veteran players that we could before training camp, and so we’ll see what’s out there in the next couple of weeks.

“… We’ve been in contact with Rob and we’ll just kind of see how that plays out.”

The Falcons drafted Alford in the 2013 second round and used him as a 76-game starter. Alford, whose pick-six in Super Bowl LI gave Atlanta a 21-0 second-quarter lead, signed a four-year, $38MM extension during that 2016 season. After the Falcons made Alford a cap casualty in 2019, the Cardinals signed him. But a broken leg and torn pectoral muscle, respectively, sidelined him for the 2019 and ’20 seasons. He started five Cards games last season, intercepted a pass and fared much better in coverage than he did in 2018. Passers compiled a collective 81.7 rating with Alford as the closest defender last season — a far superior mark to the 138.5 figure Alford allowed in 2018.

With Murphy absent at Cardinals OTAs Tuesday, Jace Whittaker frequently joined 2021 starter Marco Wilson with the first unit, Balzer adds. It would be stunning if the Cards did not add at least one vet here. The likes of Jackrabbit Jenkins, Kevin King, Joe Haden, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes lead the group of outside coverage players available. An Alford Arizona return might be accompanied by an agreement with a member of this quintet. Either way, Gladney’s death will force the Cardinals to act at cornerback.

Nine Teams Gain Cap Space From Post-June 1 Cuts

June 2nd, 2022 at 3:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although early June no longer serves as a stretch in which a wave of veterans are released for cap-saving purposes, June 2 still serves as an important calendar date for certain teams annually. Nine teams qualify as beneficiaries this year.

Eleven players were designated as post-June 1 cuts this year, via CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. Due to a longstanding CBA provision, teams that designate players as post-June 1 releases see the dead-money burden lessened for that year. Teams can designate up to two players as post-June 1 releases each year.

Here are 2022’s post-June 1 cuts, along with the belated cap savings the teams picked up Thursday:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Las Vegas Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

As detailed in PFR’s glossary, post-June 1 cuts spread dead-money hits over two years. These teams will be taking on dead money this year and next. A few of the 2023 hits are substantial, but the league’s cap-space hierarchy changed significantly Thursday as well.

Because of multiple restructures, Raiders will carry $9.9MM in Littleton dead money next year. The Cowboys will take on $8.7MM in 2023 for cutting Collins, while the Titans will be hit with $8.4MM for their Jones release. Cleveland, which just gave David Njoku a $14.2MM-per-year deal, will carry a $7.5MM dead-money cost next year due to shedding Hooper’s eight-figure-AAV deal early. The Eagles will be tagged with $11.5MM for their Cox cut, with Corry noting that is the net difference because of a $3.2MM salary cap credit regarding Cox’s 2022 bonus proration. Philadelphia re-signed the perennial Pro Bowler on a one-year, $14MM deal.

Hooper’s release pushes Cleveland’s cap space to beyond $40MM; the Browns’ overall cap-space edge is now a whopping $15MM. That should help the team address multiple needs ahead of training camp. Other teams have more options now, too. As of Thursday, the Raiders hold the NFL’s third-most cap space ($22.5MM, per OverTheCap). The $10MM the Cowboys saved moves them up to fourth in cap space ($22.49MM), while the Bears ($22.2MM), Commanders ($18.4MM) and Seahawks ($17MM) now sit fifth, sixth and seventh.

A handful of this year’s post-June 1 cut crop joined Cox in taking advantage of the modern setup, which allows these cap casualties to become free agents immediately — rather than waiting until June to hit the market. In place since the 2006 CBA, this adjustment let veterans loose early while keeping their cap figures on teams’ payrolls through May. Collins quickly joined the Bengals, while Littleton landed with the Panthers, Hooper signed with the Titans, and Phillips returned to the Bills. The remainder of this group remains unsigned. The savings this lot of teams inherited Thursday may help some of these players’ causes in free agency.

Kyler Murray Reports To Cardinals’ OTAs

June 1st, 2022 at 12:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

An offseason that injected considerable turbulence into the Cardinals-Kyler Murray relationship continues to stabilize. The two-time Pro Bowler is expected to report for the team’s second set of OTAs, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Murray stayed away from the team for the first round of OTAs last week, but Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes he was back at the Cardinals’ facility Tuesday (Twitter link). The team’s second set of OTAs begins today. With Murray back in the building for the Cards, more signs point to a resolution on a contract the quarterback’s camp wants completed before his fourth season begins. The substance of Murray’s OTA work matters far less than his presence for these voluntary sessions, considering where this situation stood months ago.

After a report of acrimony between Murray and the Cardinals surfaced shortly after their season ended, the dynamic QB removed Cardinal-related content from his social media accounts. His agent then sent out a blueprint outlining extension goals, and an ensuing report indicated Murray did not wish to play a fourth season on his rookie contract. Just about everything since, however, has resulted in some fence-mending between the parties. That trend appears to be continuing with Murray’s OTA arrival.

Although the Murray camp’s hope of an extension coming together before the draft (presumably so more teams would be open to acquiring him via trade) did not materialize, the former No. 1 overall pick said he did not wish to be traded. Steve Keim said last week he foresees an extension coming together this summer. Michael Bidwill slotted the summer as a window a deal could commence, though the owner’s comments came before Deshaun Watson‘s potentially game-changing Browns contract was finalized.

Extensions for Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer notwithstanding, the Murray negotiations will be new territory for the Cardinals. How much the quarterback’s camp pushes for Watson-like guarantees could go a long way toward determining how the next round of extension-seeking passers — a list that includes Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson — will proceed.

Murray will undoubtedly join Watson, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, Derek Carr and Matthew Stafford as players tied to $40MM-per-year contracts. The extension’s timing has always been the sticking point. Murray is under contract through 2023, via the $29.7MM fifth-year option exercised in May. The Cards extending Murray with two years of team control left would not be out of step with recent QB history, though the post-extension paths of Jared Goff and Carson Wentz do serve as warnings for teams who dive in too early.

The Cardinals made some notable additions to their offense this offseason. Murray will be reacquainting himself with ex-Oklahoma teammate Marquise Brown on the field. The fellow 2019 first-rounder represents the top addition to Arizona’s offense, though the team used a second-round pick on tight end Trey McBride. Those two join an offense featuring DeAndre Hopkins and Zach Ertz as its top weaponry.

Eight Teams Submitted Waiver Claims For DL John Cominsky

June 1st, 2022 at 8:28am CST by Sam Robinson

The Falcons no longer viewed John Cominsky as a fit, waiving him after three seasons Friday. But a fourth of the NFL remains at least somewhat intrigued by the young defensive lineman’s potential. Eight teams made waiver claims for the fourth-year veteran, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Cominsky is now with the Lions, who hold the No. 2 spot in the offseason waiver order. While the Jaguars (No. 1 on the waiver list) did not try to claim him, the Commanders, Colts, Browns, Texans, Cardinals, Vikings and Bengals did.

A 6-foot-5 defensive lineman out of Division II Charleston (West Virginia), Cominsky only factored in prominently on defense for the 2020 Falcons, who used him on 398 defensive snaps as mostly a backup. Otherwise, the Cleveland-area native has played just 113 non-special teams plays as a pro. The Falcons took Cominsky in the 2019 fourth round (135th overall); Tuesday’s claim volume makes it fairly clear other teams believe some of the potential that led the former Mountain East Conference Defensive Player of the Year to the Senior Bowl and 2019 Combine remains.

As a senior at Charleston, Cominsky totaled 16.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. This potential has not yet translated to the pro level, with the ex-Falcon finishing the 2020 season with a sack and 10 pressures. The Falcons used him on 13 defensive plays last season. But the 285-pound defender offers some versatility, as a defensive end and D-tackle.

The Lions will aim to see if the small-school product can carve out a role under second-year defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. If he cannot, Tuesday’s waiver summary points to a third chance for the contract-year defender.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/31/22

May 31st, 2022 at 9:51pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Pittsburgh Steelers

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