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Dennis Gardeck

Jaguars To Sign OLB Dennis Gardeck

June 4th, 2025 at 1:12pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Jaguars are continuing to round out their 2025 squad by signing former Cardinals outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck, according to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz.

Gardeck spent the first seven years of his NFL career in Arizona, totaling 96 appearances and 17 starts, though his production has been somewhat inconsistent. 13.0 of his 17.0 sacks came in 2020 and 2023; last year, he posted 3.0 sacks and six tackles for loss in seven games last season before landing on injured reserve with a torn ACL.

The 30-year-old is the second addition to Jacksonville’s pass rush in as many days; the team reunited with veteran defensive end Dawuane Smoot on Tuesday. He may play a more versatile role along the Jaguars’ defensive line, but the 232-pound Gardeck is purely an edge defender. Along with 2023 fifth-rounder Yasir Abdullah, Gardeck will provide depth behind former first-round picks Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker.

Gardeck has put together a solid career for a former Division II college player. He signed with the Cardinals as an undrafted rookie out of Sioux Falls University and quickly established himself as a core special teams contributor. Gardeck eventually worked his way into Arizona’s OLB rotation in 2020 and impressed with 7.0 sacks in just 94 defensive snaps. He took a step back across the following two seasons with just 1.0 sack and three tackles for loss, but reemerged in 2023 with 6.0 sacks and seven tackles for loss.

In Jacksonville, Gardeck will likely continue in a rotational role on defense while remaining a mainstay on special teams, where he’s played 1,874 snaps in his career.

The Jaguars waived 2024 fifth-rounder Keilan Robinson in a corresponding move, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The former Alabama and Texas running back appeared in six games as a rookie with 51 of his 56 snaps coming on special teams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/24

October 25th, 2024 at 6:53pm CST by Adam La Rose

Friday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles

Carter is dealing with a wrist injury which will require surgery. Head coach Sean McDermott indicated (via Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News) the team was initially unsure of if a stint on injured reserve would be needed. Now that the third-round rookie has been moved to IR, he will miss at least the next four games. Carter has appeared in all seven of Buffalo’s contests this year, logging a 39% snap share.

Cardinals’ Dennis Gardeck Tears ACL

October 22nd, 2024 at 2:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Working his way up from primary special-teamer to defensive regular, Dennis Gardeck had found a role in Jonathan Gannon‘s defense. But the veteran’s progress will stop as a result of the injury he sustained Monday night.

Gardeck left the Cardinals’ Week 7 matchup, and NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reports the seventh-year vet sustained a torn ACL. The edge rusher is in the final season of a three-year, $10MM contact.

Although Gardeck had worked as a special-teamer in Vance Joseph‘s defense, Gannon and DC Nick Rallis — as the team cut costs to start a rebuild — moved him into a regular rush role. The effort produced a team-high six sacks last season, and Gardeck had tallied a Cards-leading three early in this campaign. Gardeck has also forced a fumble and intercepted a pass for the 3-4 team.

While Gardeck did well to land the $10MM deal as a special-teamer, this setback could be a crusher as he attempted to make his case for better terms ahead of free agency. The former UDFA turned 30 this year and could have continued building a case for a starter-level contract. With the tear occurring near the midseason point, Gardeck’s value will undoubtedly take a hit.

The Cardinals used Gardeck as a three-game starter, giving him a 45% snap share on defense. He logged a 46% defensive snap rate under Gannon last season. The Cardinals have also been without BJ Ojulari this season; the 2023 second-rounder is out for the year. That will make the Gardeck injury tougher to overcome. Arizona still has former first-round pick Zaven Collins on the edge, but none of the team’s non-Gardeck OLBs have tallied a sack this season. A defense already ranking in the bottom quartile in points and yards allowed will continue an uphill battle.

Contract Details: Seals-Jones, Williams, Tomlinson, Jones, Montgomery, Gardeck, Singleton, Carter

March 27th, 2022 at 6:27pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are the latest details from contracts recently agreed to across the league:

  • Ricky Seals-Jones, TE (Giants): One-year, $1.19MM. The deal, tweeted out by Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, has a $352,500 amount guaranteed at signing. The guaranteed amount includes a signing bonus of $152,500 and $200,000 of his salary worth $1.04MM.
  • Maxx Williams, TE (Cardinals): One-year, $1.27MM. The deal has a salary of $1.12MM, according to Wilson. Regardless of whether or not he is active, he’ll receive a $15,000 bonus for any game for which he is on the roster. If he is active for any game, he’ll receive an additional $52,500 roster bonus. He’ll also receive a per game active bonus of $5,000 for a potential season total of $85,000.
  • Eric Tomlinson, TE (Broncos): One-year, $1.44MM. The deal has an amount of $1MM guaranteed at signing, according to Wilson. The guaranteed amount includes a $400,000 signing bonus and $600,000 of his salary worth $1.04MM.
  • DaQuan Jones, DT (Bills): Two-year, $14MM. The deal has an amount of $10.63MM guaranteed at signing, according to Wilson. The guaranteed amount consists of a $5.5MM signing bonus, the full first-year salary of $1.75MM, and $3.38MM of the second-year salary, which is set at $6.75MM. The contract includes a voidable year for 2024 that voids automatically 23 days before the 2024 league year begins.
  • Ty Montgomery, RB (Patriots): Two-year, $3.6MM. The deal has an average annual salary of $1.8MM with an amount of $300,000 guaranteed consisting entirely of the dual-position player’s signing bonus, according to Wilson. Included in that AAV of $1.8MM are a first-year salary of $1.16MM, a second-year salary of $1.36MM, roster bonuses of $280,000 in year one and $340,000 in year two, and workout bonuses of $50,000 in each year. The former wide receiver will earn a per game active bonus of $20,000 for a potential season total of $340,000. The deal holds an annual playtime incentive of up to $300,000. The deal also holds a potential out after the 2022 NFL season that would leave a dead cap number of $150,000.
  • Dennis Gardeck, LB (Cardinals): Three-year, $10MM. The deal has a guaranteed amount of $3.75MM, according to Wilson. $3.25MM of that amount is guaranteed at signing with a $2MM signing bonus and the first-year salary of $1.25MM being fully guaranteed. $500,000 of the second-year salary, worth $3.27MM, guarantees on the fifth league day of the 2023 season (injury guaranteed at signing). The third-year salary is worth $2.46MM. Gardeck will also receive a per game active bonus of $20,000 for a potential season total of $340,000. The deal includes an annual playtime incentive of $250,000 and an escalator based on sack total that can be worth up to $625,000. A potential out after the 2022 season would leave a dead cap number of $1.33MM.
  • Alex Singleton, LB (Broncos): One-year, $1.12MM. The deal has a salary of $965,000 with a guaranteed amount of $150,000 fully consisting of Singleton’s signing bonus, according to Mike Klis of 9News. Singleton will have a playtime incentive based on snap-percentage. At the end of the year, if he has played 65% of the team’s defensive snaps, he’ll receive $250,000, $500,000 if he plays 70%, and $750,000 if he plays 75%.
  • Lorenzo Carter, OLB (Falcons): One-year, $3.5MM. The deal has a salary of $1.5MM with a guaranteed amount of $2MM fully consisting of Carter’s signing bonus, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN. The deal includes a 2023 dummy year that will be voided 23 days before the 2023 league year. It will leave the Falcons with a dead cap number of $1M for Carter.

Cardinals Re-Sign Dennis Gardeck

March 14th, 2022 at 4:25pm CST by Ben Levine

“The Barbarian” is heading back to Arizona. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), the Cardinals have re-signed linebacker and special teams ace Dennis Gardeck.

It’s a three-year deal worth $12MM for Gardeck.

An undrafted free agent in 2018, Gardeck has spent his entire four-year career with the Cardinals. He was a key member of Arizona’s special teams unit through his first three seasons in the NFL, collecting 34 tackles in 44 games.

Gardeck saw a larger role on defense in 2021, getting into a career-high 19 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. Coupled with his usual special teams duties, the 27-year-old managed to finish with a career-high 23 tackles.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/2/21

October 2nd, 2021 at 4:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here is Saturday’s batch of minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

  • Promoted: CB Cam Lewis

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/11/21

September 11th, 2021 at 4:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

With Week 1 games on tap for 28 teams Sunday, here is Saturday’s extensive batch of minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Football Team

Cardinals Activate J.J. Watt From PUP List

August 23rd, 2021 at 5:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

J.J. Watt is now firmly on track for the Cardinals’ season opener. The team activated its high-profile free agency addition from the active/PUP list Monday. Watt had missed all of Arizona’s training camp due to a hamstring injury.

The Cardinals gave Watt a two-year, $28MM deal, beating out several other teams, and are hoping to pair the five-time All-Pro with Chandler Jones. Watt’s injury and Jones’ contract-related disenchantment have not made this an especially smooth camp for Cards pass rushers, but the duo is as of now en route to begin the season in Arizona’s lineup.

Watt missed most of the 2016 and ’17 seasons due to injury and saw a torn pectoral muscle sideline him for a lengthy stretch in 2019, but the future Hall of Fame pass rusher did play 16-game slates in 2018 and in 2020. This hamstring injury, which occurred during a conditioning test at the outset of camp, did not represent a great sign for Watt’s durability going into a 17-game season. But the Cardinals have exercised caution with the 32-year-old defensive end. His missing Week 1 due to this injury did not appear to be on the table.

Arizona also activated linebacker Dennis Gardeck from its PUP list. Gardeck suffered an ACL tear last season. The Cardinals still re-signed the former UDFA in April and hope to redeploy him for a fourth season. Gardeck has been one of the Cards’ top special-teamers, playing more than 70% of Arizona’s special teams snaps in each of his three seasons.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/15/21

April 15th, 2021 at 11:04am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Cut: QB Kyle Sloter

New Orleans Saints

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/15/21

March 15th, 2021 at 7:36pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ve compiled a handful of tender decisions below:

  • The Cardinals are tendering linebacker Dennis Gardeck at a second-round value, which is worth around $3.38MM. The former undrafted free agent has spent his entire three-year career with Arizona, primarily appearing on special teams. However, the 26-year-old took on a bigger defensive role in 2020, finished with seven sacks in only 93 snaps. Gardeck tore his ACL late in the season, so his status for 2021 is in doubt.
  • The Chargers won’t be tendering defensive end Isaac Rochell, which comes as a bit of a surprise. The 25-year-old had a solid season for Los Angeles, starting six games while compiling 29 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Rochell has 9.5 career sacks and 12 QB hits in 51 career games.
  • The Packers have tendered wideout Malik Taylor, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). After spending much of his rookie season on Green Bay’s practice squad, Taylor managed to appear in 15 games for the Packers this past season. He ultimately hauled in five receptions for 66 yards and one touchdown. He also returned a pair of kicks and compiled three tackles.
  • The Bills won’t be tendering cornerback Levi Wallace, according to ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter). However, there’s still a chance the 25-year-old lands back in Buffalo. The cornerback has started 28 games for Buffalo over the past two years, compiling four interceptions and 17 passes defended.
  • The Cowboys are tendering wideout Cedrick Wilson and nose tackle Antwaun Woods. Wilson has appeared in 22 games over the past two years, compiling 25 touches for 223 yards from scrimmage. Woods has started 32 of his 39 games for Dallas over the past three years, compiling 80, four tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks.
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