Cardinals Sign Taylor Boggs, Promote Christian Bryant
- The Cardinals re-signed guard Taylor Boggs and promoted safety Christian Bryant from the practice squad. Boggs, who also has the ability to play center, has seven career games under his belt. Meanwhile, Bryant has yet to take the field this season after playing in nine games in 2015.
Practice Squad Updates: 11/1/16
Here are today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: LB Zaviar Gooden, TE Brian Leonhardt
- Cut: T Martin Wallace
Baltimore Ravens
- Cut: RB Stephen Houston
Chicago Bears
- Cut: OT Arturo Uzdavinis
Cleveland Browns
- Cut: WR Mitch Mathews
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: LB Terrance Smith
New England Patriots
- Signed: OG Chase Farris, TE Austin Traylor
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: LB Lamar Louis
- Cut: DL Royce LaFrance
New York Jets
- Signed: OT Jesse Davis, WR Myles White
- Cut: C Kyle Friend, LB Reshard Cliett
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: LB James Burgess
- Cut: WR Kevin Norwood
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: S Vinnie Sunseri
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR George Farmer
- Cut: QB Joel Stave, FB Julian Howsare
Opinion: Cards A Fit For Joe Thomas
With the league’s trading deadline less than 24 hours away, Mike Sando of ESPN Insider and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com try to guess where certain players might end up in the coming days. The Seahawks would make a perfect fit for Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, opines Sando, who also suggests the Packers try to acquire Torrey Smith and the Bears attempt to find a taker for Alshon Jeffery. Meanwhile, La Canfora focuses solely on Thomas, laying out the case for clubs such as the Cardinals, Broncos, and Colts to go after the future Hall of Famer.
Cards Waive Ifeanyi Momah
- Tight end Ifeanyi Momah suffered a broken wrist on Sunday and will be waived by the Cardinals with an injury settlement, per Kent Somers of AZCentral.com (Twitter link). Momah, an undrafted free agent in 2012, was seeing the first NFL action of his career.
Cardinals DB Tyrann Mathieu To Miss Time
The Cardinals announced that defensive back Tyrann Mathieu will miss 3-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Mathieu’s shoulder popped out during Sunday’s game against the Panthers and he’ll need some time to heal up. 
[RELATED: Cardinals Place Jared Veldheer On IR]
Fortunately, the Cardinals are entering a bye week, so Mathieu could miss as few as two games before returning on Sunday, Nov. 27 against the Falcons. If the Cardinals’ defensive star needs the full six weeks to recover, then he could be out of action until mid-December.
The Cardinals and Tyrann Mathieu agreed to a five-year contract extension in August that made him the highest-paid safety in the NFL and locked him up through 2021. In 2015, Mathieu earned a Pro Bowl selection and was named first-team All Pro. In his 14 games, Mathieu recorded five interceptions, 89 tackles, one sack, 17 passes defensed, and graded out as the No. 1 cornerback in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. So far this year, PFF has him rated as just the 44th best safety in the league out of 89 qualifiers.
Cardinals Place Jared Veldheer On IR
Cardinals left tackle Jared Veldheer needs surgery on his partially torn triceps, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Schefter notes that Veldheer had this surgery before and missed ten weeks. The Cardinals have confirmed that Veldheer will go on IR and he is almost certainly done for the year.
Veldheer exited Sunday’s game against the Panthers in the fourth quarter. It’s a frustrating situation for Veldheer who was playing through a broken finger and has already dealt with this tear.
The veteran’s first triceps tear came in 2013 when he was in his contract year with the Raiders. Fortunately, he still found a healthy offensive line market in the spring and landed with Arizona on a five-year, $35MM deal.
The 3-4 Cardinals will miss Veldheer who is ranked No. 18 out of 74 qualified tackles so far this year. Veldheer has been an absolute workhorse for the Cardinals with 578 total snaps on the field this year, the second-highest total amongst tackles this season.
Seahawks, Cards, Broncos Eyeing OL Upgrades
The Seahawks, Cardinals, and Broncos are among the teams internally considering an offensive line acquisition, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, and those clubs are having conversations regarding what they would sacrifice in a trade. The Giants are also interested in making an offensive line deal, per La Canfora, confirming a report earlier today that indicated New York is evaluating the Browns’ Joe Thomas.
[RELATED: Trade Deadline To Be Active?]
Thomas is of interest to Seattle, Arizona, and Denver, as well, but so is 49ers offensive tackle Joe Staley, who is thought to be on the trade block. However, both Cleveland and San Francisco have placed high price tags on their respective tackles, and it’s unlikely that any of the interested clubs will be able to meet the cost, reports La Canfora. Both the Browns and 49ers have downplayed the idea that they’re looking to sell at the deadline, but that could be part of a strategy to drive up the price of their assets.
The Seahawks, of course, have fielded one of the more porous offensive lines for several years, and haven’t seemed interested in making a serious investment along their front five. The offensive line issues have become even more obvious with quarterback Russell Wilson playing through injuries, meaning he can’t move about the pocket with his usual prowess. Seattle also ranks 28th in adjusted line yards, Football Outsiders‘ run-blocking metric, and is now starting George Fant — a rookie undrafted free agent who hasn’t made a start since Pee Wee football — at left tackle.
The Cardinals’ offensive line troubles, meanwhile, have been on the interior, where the club has lost guard Evan Mathis for the season and center A.Q. Shipley hasn’t played well. But an acquisition of Thomas or Staley would clearly offer an upgrade, and would allow Arizona to move former first-round pick D.J. Humphries back to the bench. In such a scenario, either current left tackle Jared Veldheer or the Cards’ presumed addition would shift to the right side.
Like Arizona, most of Denver’s line problems have come on the inside, meaning the Broncos would need to shuffle their line in the event of a tackle trade. If Denver picked up Thomas or Staley, incumbent left tackle Russell Okung would probably move to the right side, allowing Donald Stephenson to switch from right tackle to guard.
Cardinals Fill Brown's Roster Spot With Hubert
- The Cardinals promoted wide receiver Chris Hubert from the practice squad to the active roster today. Hubert will fill Jaron Brown‘s roster spot after he was put on IR with an ACL injury.
Practice Squad Updates: 10/26/16
Here are today’s practice squad moves.
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: OT Martin Wallace
Chicago Bears
- Signed: CB Jacoby Glenn
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DB Darius Hillary, RB Terrence Magee, DL Gabe Wright
- Cut: RB Terrell Watson
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: C Jacob Flores
New England Patriots
- Cut: G Chase Farris
New York Jets
- Signed: C Kyle Friend, LB Reshard Cliett
- Cut: WR Myles White
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: CB Trovon Reed
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: QB Joel Stave
Cardinals Place Jaron Brown On IR
The Cardinals have officially placed wide receiver Jaron Brown on injured reserve with a torn ACL, the club announced today. Arizona has not yet announced a corresponding roster move.
[RELATED: Cardinals, Chandler Jones Discussing Extension]
Brown was thrust into a more prominent role yesterday as teammate John Brown was sidelined with symptoms stemming from sickle-cell trait. Serving as the team’s No. 3 wide receiver, Jaron Brown was forced to exit in the first half. If both Browns are out, then the team is left only with Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, and J.J. Nelson at receiver. The Cardinals could promote receivers Marquis Bundy and/or Brittan Golden from the practice squad, but they could also look out-of-house for options.
Prior to suffering the injury, Jaron Brown had been a more prominent part of the Cardinals’ offense this season compared to previous years. Brown had already tied his 16-game reception total from last season (11) and amassed 22 targets – one fewer than his 2015 amount. He also averaged an impressive 17.0 yards per catch and added a touchdown over the Cardinals’ first seven games.
Now in need of a receiver, Arizona worked out free agents Aaron Dobson and Jonathan Krause today, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Dobson, 25, has seen two stints with Detroit this year but has yet to suit up for a game. The Cardinals also auditioned quarterback Mike Bercovici and linebacker Zaviar Gooden, per Florio.