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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/2/22

May 2nd, 2022 at 9:13pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Cardinals Add 12 UDFAs

May 2nd, 2022 at 8:29pm CST by Ben Levine

The Cardinals clearly targeted wide receivers and defensive lineman after the draft, with Arizona adding seven players at those positions among their 12 undrafted free agent signings:

The addition of four receivers could partly be attributed to today’s news regarding star wideout DeAndre Hopkins. Among the grouping, Robinson put up the biggest numbers in 2021, finishing with 625 receiving yards. Payton was also plenty productive, finishing with 18 receptions for 413 yards and six scores.

As Darren Urban of the team’s website points out, it’s notable that the organization didn’t bring in a QB among their UDFAs. The Cardinals are currently rostering only three players at the position in Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy, and Trace McSorley.

DeAndre Hopkins Suspended Six Games For PED Violation

May 2nd, 2022 at 3:04pm CST by Adam La Rose

3:32 PM: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that Hopkins “withdrew his appeal” of the suspension, making it official that he will miss the opening six weeks of the season without pay.

3:04 PM: The Cardinals made one notable addition to their receiving corps over the weekend, but they will be starting the season without their No. 1. DeAndre Hopkins is being suspended six games for a violation of the league’s Performance Enhancing Drug policy (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). 

The WR room has seen some significant changes this offseason for the Cardinals. Christian Kirk left in free agency, leaving a vacancy for a starting spot at the position. The team then filled that hole with the acquisition of former Raven Marquise Brown. As Schefter notes, that transaction becomes perhaps less surprising given the news of Hopkins’ suspension.

In years past, four games was the benchmark for suspension lengths regarding PED usage. More recently, however, that number has been elevated to six – as the likes of Ryan Anderson and Corey Coleman have found out. This news extends the length of Hopkins’ overall absence, as he missed the final four games of the 2021 regular season (and the team’s playoff loss) due to injury.

That missed time led to the three-time All-Pro posting career-low totals in terms of production. Across his two seasons with the Cardinals, the 29-year-old has posted 1,979 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. In his absence late in the year, however, Arizona’s offense continued a concerning trend of falling off considerably. The team will be in a similar situation to begin the 2022 campaign.

Hopkins becomes the second big-name wideout to receive a notable ban this offseason. Calvin Ridley will be sidelined for at least the entire 2022 campaign after he wagered on NFL games.

Cardinals Continue To Shop WR Andy Isabella

April 30th, 2022 at 10:59am CST by Ben Levine

After acquiring Marquise Brown the other day, the Cardinals are now looking to chop some fat from their WR depth chart. Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter), the Cardinals are open to trading receiver Andy Isabella.

According to Garafolo, the organization has shopped Isabella “to a few teams” in the past few weeks, and the reporter implies that a deal could finally be completed during the final day of the draft.

After selecting Kyler Murray with the first-overall pick in the 2019 draft, the Cardinals later used pick No. 62 to select Isabella, and the organization was hoping the duo would be their long-term answer on offense. However, the receiver hasn’t been able to carve out a role in Arizona. He barely played on offense during his rookie season, and he only took a minor step forward in 2020, finishing with 21 receptions for 224 yards and two touchdowns.

Isabella was buried on the depth chart in 2021. He only saw time in eight games, collecting a single reception. We heard earlier this offseason that the wideout was on the trade block, and the recent acquisition of Brown likely spelled the end of Isabella’s tenure in Arizona. Merely cutting the player would save the Cardinals $1.1MM.

Chiefs, Packers Pursued Marquise Brown

April 29th, 2022 at 2:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Prior to the Cardinals acquiring Marquise Brown during the first round, the Ravens discussed the deep threat with the Chiefs and Packers, SI.com’s Howard Balzer tweets.

Given both contenders’ receiver moves this offseason, their involvement in these trade talks should not surprise. The Cardinals’ somewhat surprising offer — headlined by the No. 23 overall pick — won out, and neither the Chiefs nor Packers selected a wide receiver in the first round. Despite holding two first-rounders apiece, Green Bay and Kansas City enter Day 2 of the draft with needs at the position.

Although the teams’ market-shifting Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill trades had more of an impact on the A.J. Brown trade than the one involving the Baltimore wideout, the moves left the Chiefs and Packers in need. Kansas City does not appear to feature the same level of need as Green Bay, thanks to Marquez Valdes-Scantling‘s Missouri relocation, but the team was linked to a wideout move ahead of the draft. The Packers have done well with second-round receiver picks; perhaps this is the direction Green Bay goes Friday.

Lamar Jackson expressed frustration after the Brown trade commenced, but the former MVP knew about the latter’s trade request. Despite Jackson’s Twitter activity Thursday night, GM Eric DeCosta informed the star quarterback of the move before it happened, per Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed. Brown did as well, being at the Cardinals’ draft party Thursday night.

“It was just … my happiness,” Brown said during an appearance on the I Am Athlete Tonight podcast (via Pro Football Talk). “I talked to Lamar about it after my second year. And then after my third year, leading up to the end of the season, you know, [Jackson] wasn’t playing. I let him know again, like, ‘Yeah, bro, I can’t do it.’

“You know, it’s not really on Lamar, like I love Lamar. It was just, you know, it’s just the system just wasn’t for me personally. You know, I love all my teammates. I love the guys. It was just something I had to think about for myself.”

The Ravens’ run-heavy system has steered receivers (including Smith-Schuster) away in the past, and Brown’s exit leaves Baltimore with a bit of a need at the position. This reunites Brown with Oklahoma teammate Kyler Murray, a scenario Brown said the two discussed this winter (via 98.7 Arizona Sports’ Tyler Drake, on Twitter). Brown, who is coming off his first NFL 1,000-yard season, played a big role in Murray winning the 2018 Heisman Trophy. The 5-foot-9 target caught 75 passes for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, catching the Ravens’ eye in the 2019 first round.

Marquise Brown Requested Trade Out Of Baltimore

April 29th, 2022 at 10:07am CST by Adam La Rose

The first of two sizeable trades involving wide receivers saw Marquise Brown dealt from the Ravens to the Cardinals. To pundits and fans alike, the swap came as a surprise, but such a move had apparently been a distinct possibility for months. 

[RELATED: Ravens Trade Brown To Cardinals For First-Round Pick]

When speaking to the media after last night’s first round, general manager Eric DeCosta said Brown’s desire to be dealt was well-known in the organization long before it became public. That was further verified by the events which took place during the build-up to the draft. As NFL Network’s James Palmer noted (on Twitter) last night, ‘Hollywood’ himself was already at the Arizona draft party by the time the trade was announced.

“That’s a complicated topic” DeCosta said about the trade. “For me personally, complicated because Marquise was my first pick and one of my favorite guys on the team. But Marquise came to me after the season and requested that he be traded. He was not happy and wanted to play elsewhere.

It was something I anguished over for a long time. He would tell you that he and I had many conversations throughout the spring… This was a situation where it was going to be impossible for the club to truly win [the deal], but we try to do what’s best for the player.”

The trade sees Brown reunited with former Oklahoma teammate Kyler Murray, and will give the Cardinals a replacement for the speed at the position they lost with Christian Kirk‘s departure. The Ravens, meanwhile, elected not to use the 23rd overall pick on a direct WR replacement (as the Titans did after trading A.J. Brown), instead picking All-American center Tyler Linderbaum. That leaves the team thin on the WR depth chart, with 2021 first-rounder Rashod Bateman and All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews headlining Baltimore’s pass-catching corps.

How the Ravens fill the void left by the trade, and the level of success Brown has with the Cardinals will be two storylines worth watching over the remainder of the offseason and into 2022.

Ravens Trade WR Marquise Brown To Cardinals

April 28th, 2022 at 8:49pm CST by Ben Levine

The Ravens have traded a former first-round pick. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter), Baltimore has traded wideout Marquise Brown to the Cardinals, reuniting the receiver with his college QB. Cardinals GM Steve Keim announced that the team will also be picking up Brown’s fifth-year option (via Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com).

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter), the Ravens will trade Brown and pick No. 100 to Arizona for pick No. 23. It’ll be interesting to see which direction the Ravens go with their second selection of the night, and with plenty of talented wideouts still on the board, the team could instantly look to replace Brown in the lineup.

“Hollywood” was the 25th-overall pick in the 2019 draft. Following two up-and-down seasons to start his career, the receiver had a career year in 2021. Brown finished the campaign with a career-high 1,013 yards from scrimmage to go along with six touchdowns. His 92 receptions almost surpassed the totals from his first two seasons combined.

Considering their lack of reliable depth at the position, the Ravens certainly aren’t done at receiver. At the moment, the team’s depth chart is led by Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay.

The Cardinals could use some reinforcement at the position after losing Christian Kirk to the Jaguars. DeAndre Hopkins is still around to serve as Kyler Murray’s top targets, but Brown will provide another reliable target for the explosive offense.

Cardinals Interested In George Pickens

April 27th, 2022 at 7:04pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • Shifting to the draft, Georgia wideout George Pickens has emerged as a polarizing prospect. Some teams have the SEC-produced talent off their board altogether, citing character concerns, via SI.com’s Albert Breer. Others, however, have done extensive work on him. Pickens said the Cardinals, Chiefs and Packers have been the teams who have come in contact with him most, Fowler notes. Arizona and Kansas City have been linked to first-round wideouts, with the Chiefs connected to a Round 1 trade-up, while the Packers have famously not taken a first-round receiver since Javon Walker in 2002. Although the 6-foot-3 wideout referred to himself as the draft’s best wideout, he views his likely draft slot in the 25-45 range. Pickens, who posted 1,240 yards and 14 touchdowns between his freshman and sophomore seasons, is coming off a slate he largely missed due to a March 2021 ACL tear.

Cardinals Pick Up Kyler Murray’s Fifth-Year Option

April 27th, 2022 at 5:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

Not that it was ever in question, murky extension status notwithstanding, the Cardinals picked up Kyler Murray‘s fifth-year option Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

This ties Murray to the Cardinals through 2023 and would give the Pro Bowl quarterback a substantial raise in that fifth year. Because Murray is a two-time Pro Bowler, he is eligible for the top-tier option price. For 2019 first-round QBs, that comes in at a fully guaranteed $29.7MM.

Murray, 24, should not be expected to play for that salary; the former No. 1 overall pick has been seeking an extension for months. Murray’s camp established a goal of the Cardinals extending the newly extension-eligible passer by the draft. It does not appear the team will comply. This situation has not yet become contentious, however, with Murray sending out multiple tweets affirming his desire to stay in Arizona.

Murray’s contract now including the 2023 season gives the Cards leverage, but the threat of a holdout by the 2018 Heisman winner could significantly affect Arizona’s preparations for the coming season. The 2020 CBA made holdouts more difficult to wage, but it does not seem Murray will be willing to play next season on his rookie contract. He is set to make $965K in 2022.

Extending standout QBs before their fourth seasons has been the norm, with Lamar Jackson being the exception among recent first-rounders. The upcoming Murray talks also represent the Cards’ first major negotiation with a homegrown quarterback since they relocated to Arizona in 1988, raising the stakes a bit for a franchise that has seen outside additions — Kurt Warner, Carson Palmer — be its top modern-era passers. With the sides having yet to begin negotiations, this saga figures to last deep into the offseason.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/26/22

April 26th, 2022 at 8:59pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

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