The Arizona Cardinals made their final roster cuts and most of the moves come with little to no surprise. But with 28 released players, one player to PUP, four waived/injured players and one injury settlement, the initial moves are complete.
What can we take away from the moves?
2016 draft class is gone
Brandon Williams was the final hope for the draft class. He was waived with an injury designation. There are no more players left from the 2016 draft class. Outside linebacker Chandler Jones was acquired in a trade using their second-round pick from that draft so they still have something to show for those picks, but the players — Robert Nkemdiche, Williams, Evan Boehm, Marqui Christian, Cole Toner and Harlan Miller are all no longer on the roster.
At least 3 moves coming
The Cardinals have 51 players on their roster. Cornerback Robert Alford is expected to go to injured reserve, which will bring the number to 50. That means there will be at least three players added to the roster in the days to come.
Almost all the draft picks made the team
The Cardinals drafted 11 players in April and one in the supplemental draft. Of the 12, 10 make the 53-man roster. The only ones who did not were receiver Hakeem Butler, who is on injured reserve, and tight end Caleb Wilson. Wilson was the last pick in the draft.
Only 2 TEs
The Cardinals kept only two tight ends on the 53-man roster, keeping only Charles Clay and Maxx Williams. However, expect them to have two signed to the practice squad, so Darrell Daniels and Caleb Wilson could return, as they will need tight ends to run the scout team.
Cardinals have 6 ILBs
This could obviously change, but they have six inside linebackers on the team. Haason Reddick and Jordan Hicks are the starters. Joe Walker is expected to start while Reddick recovers from his knee injury. The Cardinals also kept Zeke Turner, Dennis Gardeck and Tanner Vallejo. All are good on special teams. they might not all still be on the roster in a day from now.
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