The deadline to set the 53-man roster for the entire NFL was August 29th at 4 PM EST, and the Cardinals made a lot of moves prior to the deadline, most notably DB/LB Isaiah Simmons being traded to the New York Giants in exchange for a seventh round pick in next year’s draft.
To some, a head-scratcher but nonetheless, the former first round pick was entering the final year on his contract, and it seemed to General Manager Monti Ossenfort that it was the best move to make going forward given the current team’s position.
He did everything that was asked of him, but Simmons just never seemed to fit into head coach Jonathan Gannon’s system. Now that Simmons has been traded, all the questions about his impending free agency can be laid to rest and additionally, the Cardinals made 2 other moves.
These moves involved Offensive Lineman Josh Jones and the seventh round pick (via the Simmons deal) being traded to the Texans for a fifth round pick, in which they used that 5th round pick in a trade with the Cleveland Browns for Quarterback Joshua Dobbs and a seventh round pick for next year’s draft.
During Isaiah Simmons’ tenure in Arizona, he posted up 50 total games played, 258 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, and 4 interceptions, only one of them going back for a touchdown, his tenure in Arizona wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t exactly the greatest.
Now that preseason has ended, cuts are being made to shed down the roster to 53 guys, and remember the Joshua Dobbs trade that was made earlier?
It makes sense now as veteran Quarterback Colt McCoy has been cut by the cardinals along with other QB’s Jeff Driskel and David Blough who might possibly come back as a practice squad player.
This leaves only 2 QB’s on the roster with Murray yet to be activated off the PUP list. Some other notable players who didn’t make the team were OL Lecitus Smith, S Sean Chandler, and DL Rashard Lawrence who has been dealing with injury trouble and only started 5 games last year.
The Cardinals want to start fresh and the only way to do that is to clean up the mess of mediocre draft picks and free agency signings made by former coach Kliff Kingsbury and former GM Steve Keim.
It’s no wonder why the Cardinals haven’t been able to perform at the level the fans have expected them to but now with the new regime, current GM Monti Ossenfort has a lot of draft capital to work with including multiple early round picks for the upcoming NFL Draft.
Ossenfort also went out and got what the Cardinals lacked in the most, positional depth. Though they didn’t sign anyone big, they’re definitely some people who could help make an impact on the team.
As for the future, it will take a couple more years for the Cardinals to be contenders again, but it won’t seem to take long given that core players like Budda Baker and Kyler Murray are here to stay along with some high-potential players like rookie WR Michael Wilson and the speedy Rondale Moore.
If Monti Ossenfort continues to draft the way he showed in his first one and is willing to sign big-name players in free agency, the Cardinals could once again become a feared team in the NFL for years to come.
