Cardinals Likely To Add Free Agents Before Season?
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’ David Johnson Skipping Minicamp
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.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/11/18
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
Cardinals Have Several WRs Competing For #2 Spot
- 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 Making Progress
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, Cardinals Likely To Get Extension Done?
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.
Cardinals Notes: Pugh, Gresham
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.
Cardinals Could Add Veteran Receiver
- The Cardinals could bring in a veteran wide receiver to be the number two behind Larry Fitzgerald, according to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. Fitzgerald is entrenched as the number one receiving option, but there’s currently a wide-open competition behind him between Brice Butler, rookie second-rounder Christian Kirk, and potentially J.J. Nelson. Kirk would seem to have the most upside, but if he’s not ready for such a large role as a rookie, the Cardinals could sign a free agent during training camp Urban believes.
Poll: Which NFC West Team Had The Best Offseason?
A few days ago we asked you which AFC West team had the best offseason. Perhaps the only division which had a busier offseason than the AFC West was the NFC West. The NFC West is quickly becoming one of the most exciting divisions in football, with a pair of young innovative coaches and several franchise quarterbacks. Each team made moves this spring with lofty ambitions in mind, but only one will reign supreme this time next year.
The Cardinals probably had the most eventful offseason of all NFC West teams. They have a new head coach and totally remade their quarterback room from last year after the retirement of Carson Palmer and free agency departures of Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert left them without any quarterbacks under contract. First they signed Sam Bradford, and weeks later made a splash in the draft, trading up to take Josh Rosen with the 10th overall pick. They also added Mike Glennon after he was cut by the Bears. Bradford will likely begin the season as the starter, but with his lengthy injury history, it’s very possible Rosen sees the field early. They cut longtime staple of their defense Tyrann Mathieu and hired Steve Wilks to replace the retiring Bruce Arians as head coach. They brought in Andre Smith and Justin Pugh to help improve last year’s dreadful offensive line, and signed Brice Butler away from the Cowboys as an extra pass-catcher behind Larry Fitzgerald. They’re being cast as the underdogs of the division, but have enough talent on paper to make some noise.
The Seahawks officially dismantled the once vaunted ‘Legion of Boom’, cutting one former staple in Richard Sherman and trading another in Michael Bennett. In a bid to get younger, the Seahawks have moved on from several longtime veterans this offseason. They made what many called the surprise move of the draft by taking running back Rashaad Penny in the first round. The Seahawks’ running game has been abysmal since Marshawn Lynch left, so it makes sense they reached for a running back early. They signed wide receiver Jaron Brown away from the Cardinals, but overall weren’t too active in free agency. The story of the Seahawks’ offseason was definitely more about what they subtracted rather than what they added. Last year snapped a streak of five consecutive seasons of reaching the playoffs, and the Seahawks will face a much tougher path back to the postseason than they have in recent years. With the NFC West set to be the best it’s been in a long time, the Seahawks will need some heroics from Russell Wilson to regain their dominance division.
The Rams made the biggest acquisitions of any team in the NFC West. After coach Sean McVay led the team to an 11-5 record and division title in his first year, he’ll have even more pieces to work with in year two. General manager Les Snead was aggressive in the trade market, acquiring wide receiver Brandin Cooks and All-Pro cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib in exchange for draft picks. The Rams also signed Ndamukong Suh after he was let go by the Dolphins. Due to all the trades, the Rams didn’t have many draft picks, but they still added a ton of talent to the team. They did lose cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who signed with the Jets, but the additions of Peters and Talib should more than make up for that. If quarterback Jared Goff can take a leap next year with a full offseason to digest McVay’s complicated playbook, the Rams should be able to repeat as division champs.
The 49ers were maybe the most quiet NFC West team this offseason. After winning five straight games to end the season once Jimmy Garoppolo became the team’s starting quarterback, the 49ers opted to mostly stay put. They did sign center Weston Richburg and Sherman after he was cut by the Seahawks, but didn’t do all that much in terms of adding pieces. They drafted offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey with the ninth overall pick to help keep Garoppolo upright for years to come. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is confident that he’s found his guy in Garoppolo, and the 49ers should be able to build on last season’s late success and turn it into a playoff birth in 2018.
Which team do you think had the best offseason in the NFC West? Vote in PFR’s poll below and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section!
This Date In Transactions History: Rams Release Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner is now essentially NFL royalty. A Super Bowl champion and two-time league MVP, Warner was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2017, serves as an analyst on both television and radio, and was recently considered for a color commentary role on Monday Night Football. But Warner’s fairy-tale career once appeared destined to end with him finishing as nothing more than a flash in the pan, especially after the Rams released him on June 1, 2004.
Warner had been designated as a post-June 1 cut, meaning that while the then-St. Louis Rams had telegraphed their intentions on Warner’s roster status for some time, they waited to officially release him as a salary cap maneuver. Everyone knows Warner’s story up until this point: a former grocery store employee-turned-AFL/NFL Europe star, Warner rose to fame as the captain of “The Greatest Show on Turf,” leading a high-flying Rams offense to two Super Bowl appearances in three seasons.
But things began to change in 2002, as Warner struggled to open the campaign and then missed a chunk of the season with a broken finger. Although he began 2003 as the Rams’ starter under center, he made only one start before giving way to Marc Bulger. St. Louis released Warner following that season, clearing out the remaining three years of a seven-year, $47MM contract he’d signed in 2000.
While it seems ridiculous to ponder with the benefit of hindsight, there was a real possibility Warner’s career could have ended right then and there. Articles (rightly) surfaced with headlines such as “Warner’s career on the decline,” while analyst Phil Simms doubted Warner would ever be a highly-productive quarterback again. “Can [Warner] still be a starting quarterback in this league? Sure,” said Simms. “But I don’t think it could be like before.”
Even Warner and his representatives were bleak on the subject of his future. “Does [Warner] have to find a starting job to be happy? We’re going to keep an open mind,” agent Mark Bartelstein said. “Most teams today have their starting quarterback set.” Warner did in fact land a starting gig by inking a one-year, $3MM deal with the Giants, but he was replaced prior to midseason by No. 1 overall pick Eli Manning. In his nine starts, Warner played well but didn’t exactly set the world on fire, and once again, it was conceivable his career was nearing its nadir.
But of course, Warner’s NFL run was far from over. After signing a one-year pact with the Cardinals, Warner served as Arizona’s starting quarterback for parts of the next three seasons, at times losing snaps to Josh McCown and first-round rookie Matt Leinart. But in 2008, Warner started all 16 games for the Cards and eventually led the club to a Super Bowl which likely cemented his Canton credentials (even though it was a loss). Warner played one more year in Arizona before hanging up his cleats in January 2010, and then briefly considered a comeback attempt earlier this year.
So what’s the takeaway from Warner’s career? To paraphrase Yankees great Yogi Berra, a career is never over until it’s over. Warner looked dead and buried when he was released by the Rams in 2004, but six NFL campaigns later, he was a Hall of Fame shoo-in. Perhaps there’s a free agent still currently on the open market who could experience a similar turnaround, with Warner serving as an example.