The Arizona Cardinals have apparently made some concessions to their offseason program in order to get more veteran participation. Throughout this offseason, the NFLPA has been pushing players to boycott the voluntary part of the offseason.
Some teams have even issued statements through the NFLPA stating that the entire team would boycott on-field work in the voluntary portion of the offseason.
This has led to some teams making changes to OTAs, either cutting down the number of practices or changing the pace.
According to Albert Breer of SI.com, the Cardinals will only have three on-field practices for veterans. Breer noted last week there was good attendance to Phase 2 last week.
The Cardinals were scheduled to begin OTAs on Tuesday this week. They were to have three practices this week, three next week and four the following week before they have mandatory minicamp with three practices the following week.
The question is whether the Cardinals will have those practices with veterans this week or in the third week of OTAs.
It sounds like the Cardinals still expect younger players to be here for practices, but it is likely they would have been there anyway, as they are the players whose roster spots are not secure.
Veterans like J.J. Watt, A.J. Green and others, even if they are new to the team, know they will make the team and have a starting job. Attending three practices still gives them some on-field work to physically rep the things they have learned.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
Latest show:
Previous shows:
and
