The Arizona Cardinals made the necessary moves to trim the roster down to 53. They actually trimmed it down to 52 players.
Most of the cuts were not at all surprising.
Others were a bit of a surprise.
The most surprising moves are below.
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QB Colt McCoy
The move was announced a day before final cuts, but it was still the most surprising move of all for a number of reasons.
He was due $2.25 in fully guaranteed salary. He ran the first-team offense all offseason and preseason. He is well respected.
The writing perhaps was on the wall with how his arm looked in two preseason games, but with no other quarterback moves in the offseason before last week, McCoy always felt like a lock.
LS Aaron Brewer
Cutting Brewer leaves no long snapper on the roster. That’s a bit of a surprise.
However, it is less surprising because it happened last year as a way to manipulate the roster.
He is not subject to waivers, so there is no danger of him getting claimed by another team.
The assumption is he will be re-signed later in the week after other moves with injured reserve, waiver claims and potential trades.
The worst-case scenario will be getting signed to the practice squad initially and getting elevated to the active roster before the first game.
S Andre Chachere
The Cardinals only kept three safeties. Chachere’s connection to Jonathan Gannon, having played for the Eagles last season, and his ability play on special teams made it seem like he would likely make the team.
DL Rashard Lawrence
Ok, this isn’t a surprise now. But back in April and May, Lawrence was a lock to make the team. He was buried on the depth chart and apparently is not the fit for this defense that he was for the previous scheme.
RB Corey Clement
Clement started the first preseason game. He played deep into the fourth quarter of the final preseason game. In that sense, he is not really a surprise cut. No one playing that deep in the final preseason game should be considered a surprising cut.
However, based on how things looked early in the offseason, training camp and preseason, this is a surprise.
