Wednesday’s minor transactions:
Houston Texans
Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Sims was not tendered by the Texans as a restricted free agent, but Houston found a way to bring him back on a new deal regardless. Sims is now five years removed from his rookie year in Washington, in which he caught for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
We will keep track of today’s minor moves here:
San Francisco 49ers
Turner signed with the Cardinals as a UDFA in 2018 and has been with the club ever since. He has primarily operated as a special teamer during his time in the desert, racking up 1,756 third phase snaps during his six-year career against just 190 defensive snaps. However, as Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 writes, Turner will have a chance to “showcase [his] skill at linebacker,” and he could assume some of the snaps that recently-departed LB Oren Burks played.
The Cardinals were busy today, adding three players to the roster. The team announced that they’ve re-signed linebacker Zeke Turner, and the team also announced that they’ve added free agent offensive lineman Hjalte Froholdt and defensive lineman Kevin Strong.
Froholdt got a two-year deal from Arizona. The veteran started six of his 17 appearances for the Browns last season, spending time at both center and right guard. He’ll be reunited with new Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who served as Cleveland’s QBs coach in 2022 and their tight end coach between 2020 and 2021. Froholdt has seen time in 31 regular season games in stints with the Browns and Patriots, and his versatility (and multiyear contract) will surely earn him a spot on the 2023 roster.
Strong got a one-year deal from Arizona. The linebacker had his most productive NFL season in 2022 with the Titans, collecting 23 tackles and a pair of passes defended in 16 games (one start). He’ll be joining new Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort in Arizona; the executive previously served as Tennessee’s director of player personnel.
Turner got a one-year deal to re-sign with the Cardinals. The former undrafted free agent has spent his entire five-year career in Arizona, getting into 64 total games. The 26-year-old appeared in 15 games (one start) last season, collecting 22 tackles and three tackles for loss.
Jordan Phillips is moving closer to making his season debut. The Cardinals designated the veteran defensive lineman to return from IR Wednesday, starting his 21-day clock.
The second-year Arizona defender has three weeks to return from IR or miss the entire 2021 season. Phillips’ absence has dragged on with his current team; he has not played since Nov. 8 of last year.
The Cards did not disclose Phillips’ injury upon placing him on IR in September. His two IR stints in 2020 came because of hamstring injuries. The veteran interior D-lineman missed the final seven games of Arizona’s season. The Cardinals gave Phillips a three-year, $30MM deal in 2020, bringing him west after his 9.5-sack 2019 season with the Bills. The 29-year-old defender has yet to deliver much in the way of production since, adding some pressure ahead of his season debut.
Phillips is close to rejoining a team that has improved since he last suited up. The Cards are the league’s lone remaining unbeaten, at 5-0, and now have J.J. Watt anchoring their defensive line. A Phillips return in Week 6 would help a Cardinals team that is expected to be without Chandler Jones, who tested positive for COVID-19 this week. The Cards rank sixth in the league in scoring defense.
In addition to Phillips’ return to practice, the Cardinals placed both tight end Maxx Williams and special-teamer Zeke Turner on IR. Williams is facing the prospect of missing the rest of this season with a knee injury; Turner is battling a shoulder ailment. Arizona added some depth by signing veteran tight end Richard Rodgers to its practice squad.
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:
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.