Deatrick Nichols

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/28/18

Here are Friday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

  • Promoted from practice squad: G Dorian Johnson
  • Placed on IR: RB Kenjon Barner

Cleveland Browns

  • Promoted from practice squad: WR Blake Jackson
  • Placed on IR: LB Tanner Vallejo

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

  • Waived: S Rolan Milligan

Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Redskins

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/18/18

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Signed off Patriots’ practice squad: T Eric Smith

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Redskins

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/23/18

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/22/18

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cardinals Release WR Kendall Wright

The Cardinals released wide receiver Kendall Wright on Thursday, per a team announcement. In his place, the club promoted cornerback Deatrick Nichols from the practice squad.

Wright was signed just ten days ago, with Nichols being waived to create room on the roster. It’s not uncommon for teams to juggle veterans each week depending on needs, so it’s possible that Wright could be back soon with Nichols back on the waiver wire.

Wright, ostensibly, was signed as insurance in the slot for Larry Fitzgerald. But, Fitzgerald is a go for Thursday night despite his hamstring and back issues, so Wright was no longer needed in Arizona.

The Cardinals, with Nichols on the roster, will face the Broncos in a Thursday night matchup that could have serious implications for the losing team.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/10/18

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Tennessee Titans

Cardinals To Sign WR Kendall Wright

Kendall Wright spent the preseason with the Vikings but didn’t make the team. He’ll now join the team that’s playing the Vikings on Sunday.

The Cardinals announced they’ve signed the veteran wide receiver. It’s a one-year deal for Wright, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Arizona waived cornerback Deatrick Nichols to make room on the roster.

Having gone from leading the Bears in receiving last season, to being a Vikings preseason cut, to traversing the workout circuit, Wright will begin his seventh NFL season with the campaign more than a quarter complete. His latest such workout came with Arizona in mid-September. The 28-year-old wideout also auditioned for the Patriots, Redskins and Jaguars.

Since Wright is primarily a slot receiver, this is an interesting fit. The Cardinals typically use one of the greatest wideouts in NFL history in the slot, but Larry Fitzgerald has been battling a hamstring issue.

Fitzgerald’s been playing through it but hasn’t contributed his usual stellar work for the Cards just yet (17 receptions, 176 yards, no touchdowns). However, Arizona’s offense struggling as a whole is also contributing to Fitz’s stat lines. Josh Rosen completed just 10 passes on Sunday in the Cardinals’ first 2018 win.

Should he play in a regular-season game with the Cards, this will be Wright’s third team. The Titans used a first-round pick on the former Baylor pass-catcher in 2012 and employed him for five years, the last two with Wright being a marginal contributor. He signed with the Bears last season and caught 59 passes for 614 yards and a touchdown last season. Wright’s best work came back in 2013, when he hauled in 94 passes for 1,079 yards. He scored a career-high six touchdowns in 2014.

Cardinals Sign 24 UDFAs

The Cardinals have signed enough undrafted free agents to fill a starting lineup. Of course, it’s likely that only a few will actually make Arizona’ final cut. The complete rundown of Arizona’s UDFA class is as follows:

  • CB Elijah Battle (West Virginia)
  • TE Alec Bloom (Connecticut)
  • LB Dennis Gardeck (Sioux Falls)
  • LB Frank Ginda (San Jose State)
  • OL Will House (Southern Nazarene)
  • S A.J. Howard (Appalachian State)
  • DE Alec James (Wisconsin)
  • QB Chad Kanoff (Princeton)
  • K Matt McCrane (Kansas State)
  • LB Mike Needham (Southern Utah)
  • CB Deatrick Nichols (South Florida)
  • DT Owen Obasuyi (Hampton)
  • OL Austin Olsen (Southern Illinois)
  • LB Matthew Oplinger (Yale)
  • S Jonathan Owens (Missouri Western)
  • FB Austin Ramesh (Wisconsin)
  • WR Trent Sherfield (Vanderbilt)
  • CB Tavierre Thomas (Ferris State)
  • WR Jalen Tolliver (Arkansas-Monticello)
  • WR Jonah Trinnaman (BYU)
  • S Zeke Turner (Washington)
  • TE Andrew Vollert (Weber State)
  • OL Brant Weiss (Toledo)
  • WR Corey Willis (Central Michigan)

The Cardinals also have six drafted rookies to account for, meaning that they presently have 99 players in total. The Cardinals will be laying off at least nine players in the coming days in order to sign the aforementioned UDFAs to contracts.

Kicker Phil Dawson inked a two-year, $6MM deal with the Cardinals last year, but the team could save $2.5MM with just $1MM in dead money by releasing him. In theory, McCrane could have an opportunity to unseat him, especially since he would represent a cheaper option. Last year, Dawson connected on 80% of his field goal tries, including 4-of-5 from 50+ yards. He also nailed the longest field goal try of his NFL career when he sank a 57-yard game winner against the Jaguars.