September 25th, 2021 at 3:20pm CST by Sam Robinson
In finalizing their Week 3 roster, the Cardinals moved Brian Winters off the squad. They released the veteran guard Saturday.
Winters agreed to terms with the Cards this offseason, heading to the desert after a lengthy New York tenure. The Jets released Winters last year, leading him to the Bills on a one-year contract. Winters signed with the Cardinals on a one-year veteran-minimum deal.
A longtime Jets starter, Winters worked as a part-time starter with the Bills last year. In two Cardinals contests, however, he has not seen much action. Arizona has used Justin Pugh and 2020 draftee Josh Jones as its starting guards. Winters has totaled 16 offensive snaps in the Cards’ two games.
Winters, 30, could potentially stick around with the team on a practice squad agreement, with up to six vested veterans eligible for taxi squads. But he is back in free agency for the time being.
The Cardinals also promoted two offensive linemen — Sean Harlow and Koda Martin — from their practice squad. They cleared the other roster spot by placing offensive lineman Josh Miles on IR. Arizona elevated safety Chris Banjo and cornerback Antonio Hamilton to its active roster as well.
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks and 49ers moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: C Ryan Kelly, WR Zach Pascal, QB Carson Wentz; the trio landed on the coronavirus list due to being high-risk close contacts, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets
Chris Banjo will return for a third season with the Cardinals. The team announced it re-signed the veteran safety to a one-year deal.
One of the NFL’s most experienced special-teamers, Banjo has operated in such a role for eight seasons now. The former UDFA played with the Packers and Saints before signing with the Cards in 2019. Banjo joins safety Shawn Williams in agreeing to terms with Arizona on Monday.
Last season, the Cards asked more from Banjo than his previous teams have. He started a career-high four games and made 48 tackles — nearly 30 more than he had previously registered in a season — after injuries to Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson limited the team’s safety corps.
Banjo’s career-high 436 defensive snaps cut his special teams workload down a bit from 2019, but with Williams coming to Arizona to join Baker, it would appear the Cards are retaining Banjo to work on their specialty units.
The Cardinals are re-signing QB Brett Hundley, the team announced. Hundley joined Arizona last March after serving as Russell Wilson‘s clipboard holder in Seattle in 2018.
Hundley, who at one time was viewed as a potential starter, has settled in as a QB2. He was drafted by the Packers in the fifth round of the 2015 draft and saw his most extended action in 2017, when Aaron Rodgers was lost to injury. Hundley went 3-6 in his nine starts for Green Bay that year, and the Packers traded him to the Seahawks in August 2018 in exchange for a sixth-round selection.
The former UCLA standout was Kyler Murray‘s backup for Murrary’s rookie campaign in 2019, and Arizona apparently likes the current layout of its quarterback room. Like Murray, one of Hundley’s best assets is his legs, so the team would not need to alter its offense too much if something should happen to Murray.
The Cardinals will also re-sign safety Chris Banjo, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network (via Twitter). Banjo has long been respected for his work as a special teams ace, and he will reprise that role with Arizona in 2020.
The former UDFA spent the first three-plus years of his career with the Packers, and he caught on with the Saints in November 2016. New Orleans actually agreed to a three-year extension with Banjo last March, but he surprisingly did not survive final roster cuts. He went on a few workouts after being cut by New Orleans and ultimately signed with the Cards.
