The Arizona Cardinals returned to the practice field Wednesday after a busy two days that saw 32 players either waived or have their contracts terminated.
When head coach Jonathan Gannon talked to the media before practice, he said. “I would tell you guys, the dust has not settled. The better indication of the 53-man roster and the practice squad will be on Monday.
“Every team right now, there’s a period of time now in the next couple days (where) the dust hasn’t settled. But I feel really good where we’re at right now.”
That was the case with numerous players cut Tuesday, including running back Michael Carter and linebacker Krys Barnes. The release of Barnes left the Cardinals with only three inside linebackers on the current roster.
Gannon said Carter was “a tough one,” and added, “the dust hasn’t settled on that. Mike’s a good player. You saw when we acquired him last year, the value that he added to our team. But you’ve got to weigh everything on him with everybody else. I value Michael Carter very high. He’s a very good football player. He fits what we do here. And we’ll see what happens here going forward.”
Carter and Barnes were on the practice field Wednesday morning and presumably on the practice squad. Gannon said of Barnes, “That’s part of roster mechanics and movement going on. I’m glad we have him; he’s going to be an integral part of what we do.”
Those players were two of 14 players cut Tuesday that were practicing. The others were quarterback Desmond Ridder; wide receivers Andre Baccellia, Dan Chisena and Tejhaun Palmer; offensive linemen Jackson Barton, Marquis Hayes Jr. and Keith Ismael; tight end Bernhard Seikovits; defensive lineman Ben Stille; linebacker Markus Bailey and cornerbacks Jaden Davis and Divaad Wilson.
In addition, edge rusher Julian Okwara, who visited the team Tuesday after being released by the Eagles on Monday, was practicing. Okwara was a Lions third-round pick in 2020 when Cardinals assistant general manager Dave Sears was Detroit’s director of college scouting.
Noting the interactions that occur with players being cut but who also could be back, Gannon said, “They’re aware that the roster is truthfully always in flux. Yeah, roles are defined right now, but they’ll really be defined on Monday when the dust settles. But roles can change quickly. They understand that.”
With yet another “dust” comment, Gannon concluded, “When the dust settles on Monday or early next week, I will feel really good about the 53 and the practice squad going to beat Buffalo.”
No waiver assignments
Finally, unlike last year when the Cardinals were assigned six players on waivers the day after the cut to 53, none of the 26 assignments in the league were to the Cardinals. They might have put in claims and not gotten anyone. However, it’s questionable that anyone on the list would be an upgrade from who is on the team’s roster.
Later today, teams that acquired players on waivers will make moves to get their rosters to 53, so claims would be possible on them.
One player waived Tuesday, linebacker Trevor Nowaske, was claimed by the Lions, the team from which the Cardinals claimed him last December.
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