Perhaps the Arizona Cardinals’ most glaring hole on the roster is what they will do at center. They released Rodney Hudson, who is expected to retire.
Billy Price, Sean Harlow and Max Garcia, all of whom have started at center for the team the last two seasons, have not been re-signed.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon isn’t worried. He likes where they are at with the position currently.
“We don’t really need a center right now,” Gannon said at the annual league meeting when he spoke with reporters, according to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss.
Why? They have guys who have played center and can play center on the roster.
Currently, they have three players that can or have played center — free agent addition Hjalte Froholdt, who started four game at center last season, Lecitus Smith, drafted last year in the sixth round and practiced at center all offseason, and Hayden Howerton, signed this offseason, who played some center in college at SMU.
They have a combined four NFL starts, all by Froholdt.
While they have players who can play center, it seems unlikely they would go into the season with that as the plan. There are veteran starters still unsigned and they could draft a center as well.
While Gannon might not think the Cardinals need a center, all he is really doing is not making a public declaration that the players on the roster are not enough.
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