The Arizona Cardinals made a number of rosters moves Wednesday leading up to the start of practice in Week 16 to prepare for the Seattle Seahawks. They placed two players on injured reserve, signed two players and added a pair to the practice squad.
Linebacker Tanner Vallejo’s stint with the Cardinals didn’t last long. After playing two games, he was placed on injured reserve with an injury to his ribs. Cornerback Kevin Peterson was also placed on IR with a shoulder injury.
With these two moves and the release of Terrell Suggs last Friday, they had three roster spots to fill.
They promoted linebacker Vontarrius Dora to the 53-man roster and poached a pair of players off other teams’ practice squads. They signed cornerback Andre Chachere off the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad and linebacker Keishawn Bierria off the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad.
They also added cornerback Duke Thomas and linebacker Jamey Mosley to the practice squad.
For the bios of the new players, as given by the team in a press release, go to the next pages.
Keishawn Bierria
Bierria (6-1, 223) played in all 16 games as a rookie with Denver in 2018 and played in four games with the Broncos this season prior to being released. He had five tackles on defense and three tackles on special teams with the Broncos. The 24-year old Bierria entered the league with Denver as a sixth-round selection (217th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft out of the University of Washington. While at Washington, he played in 54 games (43 starts) and had 242 tackles (155 solo), 7.5 sacks, four passes defensed, five forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries. He was signed to Jacksonville’s practice squad on October 29.
Andre Chachere
Chachere (6-0, 195) was on the Cardinals practice squad earlier this season before joining Carolina’s practice squad on October 21. He played with the Lions in the preseason after spending his rookie year on Detroit’s active roster and practice squad. Chachere entered the league with Houston as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2018 out of San Jose State and signed with Detroit’s practice squad in November prior to being elevated to the Lions active roster for their season finale last year. At San Jose State, he played in 49 games and had 122 tackles and seven interceptions.
Vontarrius Dora
Dora (6-4, 256) has been on the Cardinals practice squad since November 13. He re-joined the Cardinals after spending the preseason with the team prior to being released on September 3. Dora played in three games with the Cardinals in 2018 and had three tackles and one pass defensed. He originally joined Arizona’s practice squad in 2017 after playing in one game as a rookie with Denver in 2016. The 27-year old Dora entered with league with the Broncos as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2016 out of Louisiana Tech.
Jamey Mosley
Mosley (6-5, 248) entered the league as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Jets out of the University of Alabama and spent time on their practice squad earlier this season. The younger brother of Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley, Jamey played in 31 games at Alabama and had 21 tackles, two sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss and two passes defensed. He was released by the Jets on November 26.
Duke Thomas
Thomas (5-11, 185) spent the preseason with the Vikings before being released on August 31. He entered the league with Houston in 2016 as an undrafted rookie free agent from the University of Texas and was on the Eagles and 49ers practice squads as a rookie. Thomas spent the 2017 season on the Cowboys injured reserve list before playing in the CFL with Toronto in 2018 and with San Antonio of the AAF last spring. While at Texas, Thomas was a two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, appearing in 51 games (35 starts) with seven interceptions.
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