The Cardinals did not waste any time after agreeing to terms with Brandon Keith
yesterday, as they added another pick to the fold today with Chris Harrington signing a three year contract. Harrington, a 23 year old former Aggie, is moving from defensive end to outside linebacker this season. Despite the depth and varied talent at outside linebacker, Harrington brings an unique set of traits and strong intagibles to the table. I'd look for him to contribute on special teams during his rookie season and move into a more expanded role next season or as injuries strike.

The only remaining rookies left to sign are Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Calais Campbell and Early Doucet. Being that they are the first three picks, they'll be the toughest to ink to a deal. One thing to keep an eye on is that the next rookie to sign will fill out the roster at 82, meaning that the team will have to cut two players in order to sign all three remaining rookies. Any early guesses as to the first two players to go?

The Cardinals signed another draft pick today when Brandon Keith agreed to a three year deal. Keith, the Cards seventh round pick, is competing for a backup spot somewhere along the offensive line and has logged most of his practice snaps at right tackle so far. He was a relative unknown prospect coming out of Northern Iowa but so far he looks to have all the tools to stick around for a while. His former coach certainly thought he not only had the skills but was also versatile enough to play both guard or tackle (a trait that helps a guy looking to add depth to a shallow offensive line unit). He's the third draft pick to sign, joining Tim Hightower and Kenny Iwebema, although financial terms were not disclosed.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Calais Campbell, Early Doucet and Chris Harrington remain unsigned but the club is hopeful to finalize another deal by the end of the week. The goal, as always is to have every pick signed by the start of camp and so far they seem to be in good shape to accomplish that task. Anyone think we'll see a holdout this year? If so, who will it be?

• CBS Sports identifies their 30 players most likely to break out this season and as you'd expect, most of them are second or third year guys. There were two Cardinals made the list and if this is correct, I'd expect big things from the Cardinals in 2008:

5. Antrel Rolle, S, Arizona Cardinals: The scouts all said Rolle didn't have the hips to play corner. So even though he made some big plays last season -- including two picks for scores in one game -- Rolle moves to free safety this season. Look for Rolle to be much more of a fit at safety. He is a playmaker who will complement Adrian Wilson well. 

7. Matt Leinart, QB, Arizona Cardinals: His second season was cut short in 2008 when he suffered a broken collarbone in the fifth game. That led to Kurt Warner taking over and playing well. But Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt is going back to Leinart, which is the right move. Leinart can be the Cardinals' franchise passer and this is the season he proves that to the many skeptics.

• Scout.com takes another look at the contract situations with Boldin, Dockett, Dansby and Wilson. They believe that GM Rod Graves should be more concentrated on Wilson and Dansby that on Q and DD, and I for one couldn't agree more.
  
• The Cardinals official site has an interesting story about the Cardinals 7th round pick, Brandon Keith. He talks about his off the field issues prior to the draft and how he's handled himself since. They also touch on what he needs to improve on and his goals for the upcoming season and beyond.
• If you're still looking for your season tickets, your are in luck. The Cardinals season ticket sales are lagging behind the previous two seasons but they do still expect to continue the current streak of 20 straight sell outs. If you're in the market for single game tickets, they will go on sale on July 26th.

• Brandon Keith, the Cards seventh round pick, plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges from March of this year. The charges included interfering with officials, which cost him a year of probation, and a rioting charge, for which he got a deferred charge. If he completes his probation without incidence, the rioting charge will be dropped from his record. Coach Whisenhunt and the front office did know about the charges on draft day.
  
• The deadline to resign Karlos Dansby is fast approaching (July 15th) but the team and his agent don't seem any closer to negotiating a long term deal. General Manager Rod Graves talks about the ongoing conversations (of lack thereof) with Dansby's agent and touches on the contract situations with Boldin as well. With the Cardinals lack of cap room, it doesn't seem likely that either will get new deals before the season starts.
  
• Team officials still believe that Boldin will report to camp on time even if he doesn't get a new contract. The combination of his status as a team leader and the fines amounting to $14,000 to $15,000 bucks a day should be enough to get him to Flagstaff on time. It's also still believed that the Cards will keep a close eye on cuts by other teams as they attempt to find a veteran backup offensive tackle. With their limited cap space, it would have to be a pretty marginal player though.
• The cohesiveness of the offensive line has been apparent throughout the offseason but there have been some rumblings that the team expects Levi Brown and Deuce Lutui to make significant strides in terms of consistency. Mike Gandy and Reggie Wells have been 'rock solid' so far and big things are expected from the left side of the line.
  
• We've seen numerous reports about Leinart taking his training and classroom work more serious this offseason and now it looks like he's embracing his role as a role model as well. He recently made news when he attended a Make-A-Wish luncheon and pledged to grant one wish a month for a year (equivalent to $60,000 donation). He was reportedly emotional as he spoke to the crowd about his previous experiences with the Make-A-Wish foundation.

The Arizona Cardinals enter the 2008 season in a relatively unfamiliar position. They're not coming off a losing season (something only two other Cardinals' teams can say in the past 20 years), they're not looking to replace many starters, and expectations are much higher than in most seasons. In fact, it's conceivable there will only be two new starters on both sides of the ball combined (Calvin Pace and Terrence Holt). The group could benefit the most from a second consecutive season working together is the offensive line. In 2007 Ken Whisenhunt took over the reigns of this franchise and his choice for offensive line coach was the heralded Russ Grimm. Together Whiz and Grimm set out to revamp a unit that ranked 32nd and 30th in rushing the previous two seasons and revamp, they did.

By the time the 2007 got ready to kick off, the Cardinals had three new starters. Two of the new faces would come via free agency (Mike Gandy and Al Johnson) and the third was the 5th overall pick in the draft, Levi Brown. The results weren't necessarily  immediate or miraculous but they were no doubt a better unit than the Cardinals have had for quite some time. The Cardinals leading rushers had the highest yards per carry average since 2002 and gave up the least amount of sacks since before the turn of the century. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. They still ranked just 29th in the league in rushing but with a second season as a cohesive unit, they should improve quite a bit.

Levi Brown: The 5th overall pick just one year ago won the starting job from day one but  had an 'up and down' season. He missed 5 starts because of an ankle injury and according to some it hampered him the rest of the year. He looked like a great player at times and at other times, he looked like a rookie learning on the job. One thing that no one questions though is the kid's ability to play. He'll be a solid player for years to come and should end up on a Pro Bowl roster or two.

Deuce Lutui: Depending on what you read, Lutui's either the best member of the group or he's the most likely to be replaced by top backup, Elton Brown. If you're asking me, Lutui is a young player (just turned 25) who's getting better with every game and already is above average as a run blocker. He started his first full season in 2007 and goes into this season with 24 starts under his belt. I'd look for him to really benefit from the consistency of having the same guy on either side for the second consecutive season.

Al Johnson: Johnson (29) was a free agent signee after four seasons in Dallas, two of which he was the starter. Most consider him the weak link of the group, but even with that label, he's pretty solid. His contract runs through 2010 but the coaches rave about last season's undrafted rookie, Lyle Sendlein. Johnson will be the starting center for 2008 and expect another solid, yet unspectacular season, but look for Sendlein to make a push for the job in 2009.

Reggie Wells: The longest tenured member of the group is also the most consistent. Wells was the Cardinals' sixth round pick in 2003 and he's been a starter since his second season, totally 58 starts. At 6'4 305, he's not the biggest guard around but he gets the job done. Wells performed admirably last season considering he had two new faces around him and has now started 32 consecutive games.

Mike Gandy: Gandy's third stop in the NFL landed him in Arizona for the 2007 season. He previously played for the Bears and Bills but arguably his best season was this past one. Even though he's considered a natural guard, he's had considerable experience at both positions. His play in 2007 made most Cardinal fans forget, or at least easily block out the six seasons of unspectacular play by Leonard Davis. Gandy is signed through 2009 so the Cardinals may look to either draft a replacement or groom rookie Brandon Keith to take over after 2008.

Top Backups: Elton Brown and Lyle Sendlein are the top backups with Brandon Keith also in the mix. Brown's entering his fourth year and will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. As much as the team would like to keep him, they'll probably have to have a starting spot for him in order to get him to come back. He's got the ability and some team will hand him a starting job, as well as starting money. Lyle Sendlein has future starter written all over him. It's not often that an undrafted free agent gets into a starting role during his rookie season but that's exactly what he did when Johnson went down with an injury. Is it a coincidence that Edge's averaged 5.44 yards carry during Sendlein's two starts, despite playing two of the top 12 rushing defenses? Keith is a massive rookie and he's raw but most agree that he has the tools to play in this league. It'll take him at least a year of development though.

So how confident are you that this offensive line can help lead this team to playoffs? Who's the strongest and weakest link and do you think the team should be looking for another backup tackle?

The Cardinals kicked off the final week of organized team activities yesterday and welcomed a couple of starters who were absent last week, Karlos Dansby and Antonio Smith. Center Al Johnson also took part in his first practice since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery five weeks ago and by all accounts, he should be 100% by the start of training camp.

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The Arizona Cardinals have already signed two of their seven draft picks and according to general manager Rod Graves, the team's goal is to get Early Doucet, Chris Harrington and Brandon Keith signed before the start of July. That the would give the front office the month of July to focus on signing first and second round picks, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Calais Campbell. Since he was 16th overall though, Graves isn't too worried that they'll get Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's contract worked out before the start of camp:

"We will see if it holds true, but the fact the deal is in that area and not the top 10, we have a better chance of getting it done in a timely fashion," Graves said.

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The agents for Darnell Dockett and Anquan Boldin, Drew Rosenhaus made an appearance yesterday and had an informal meeting with both Rod Graves and Ken Whisenhunt. Before anyone gets their hopes up though, at least according to reports his visit possibly wasn't even related to Q or Dockett. Rosenhaus could have been simply visiting other his other Cardinal clients which include Antonio Smith, Edge, Eric Green, Antrel Rolle and Gabe Watson. Of those guys Smith and Green will be free agents after the 2008 season, so their contract situations could be even more pressing.

Another slow week for Cardinals news and the NFL as a whole. Organized team activites are ongoing but any news out of them is few and far between. At this point, no news is good news considering most of the time the only noteworthy news concerns injuries.

• OTA's started up again yesterday and will run through tomorrow for this week. Q and Dockett were again among the absentees and Edge kept his word by staying away from the team this week. He should return next week and finish OTAs by missing the fourth and final week.
  
• As I'm sure you've already heard, Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt is handing the play calling duties over to offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Whiz called all the plays at the beginning of 2007 but he gradually handed off the duties to Haley as the season went along. This should free Whiz up to coach both sides of the ball on game day. This also should be expected considering the raise that Haley got this off season.
  
• From the 'weird file folder' Jose Canseco offered $5,000 to anyone who would step in the ring with him and Vai Sikahema stepped up. In case you don't remember Vai, he was a Cardinal for 5 seasons (2 in STL, 3 in PHX). He was a 10th round pick of the Cardinals in 1986 and was voted to the Pro Bowler as a return specialist each of his first two seasons. During his five year career with the Cardinals he'd play in 75 games, score 4 touchdowns (3 punt returns and 1 receiving) and accumulate over 6,000 total yards. 
• I recently emailed Brandon Keith's positional coach at Northern Iowa in an effort to learn as much as possible about the Cardinal's seventh round pick. Here's what offensive line coach Rick Nelson had to say about Keith's strengths, weaknesses and his overall personality:

Brandon could play guard or tackle, but he played right tackle for UNI because plays best out of a right handed stance and is a much better player on the right side of the line. Brandon’s strengths include size, strength, athletic ability and his weakness would be hip flexibility. If you ever get a chance to meet Brandon you will see what a great young man you now have on your team. 

Sure there are numerous training camp battles that need to play themselves out before we can start serious talks about a final 53 man roster, but where's the fun in that. Here's my 53:

QBs: (2) - Matt Lienart & Kurt Warner

I've never been a fan of keeping 3 QBs on the active roster, that's what the practice squad is for. St. Pierre's not eligible for the practice squad but undrafted rookie Anthony Morelli is so in essence he's your 3rd QB.

RBs: (3) - Edgerrin James, JJ Arrington, Tim Hightower

Arrington beats out Shipp because Arrington has value on special teams. Not to mention that Arrington's 4 years younger and Shipp hasn't averaged over 3 yards a carry since 2003.

FBs: (1) - Tim Castille

Castille beats out incumbent Terrelle Smith, former Brown, and the team does Smith a favor by letting him go instead of making him sit on the bench

WRs: (6) - Fitz, Q, Early Doucet, Steve Breaston, Jerheme Urban, Jamaica Rector

Sean Morey ends up being a surprise cut despite his track record for being a special teams standout and his familiarity with the coaching staff. Former Cowboy, Rector wins the job in preseason and camp by showing his improved ability to stretch defenses.

TEs: (3) - Leonard Pope, Ben Patrick, Jermane Tuman

No surprise here, tight end is quite possibly the most set position on the offensive depth chart. Pope and Patrick are the youth and future and Tuman, the former Steeler, is the veteran blocking tight end that Whiz covets.

OL: (9) - Levi Brown, Deuce Lutui, Al Johnson, Reggie Wells, Mike Gandy, Elton Brown, Lyle Sendlein, Brandon Keith, One veteran OT cut by another team

The ninth spot will depend a great deal on how Keith preforms in the preseason. If he does well enough that the coaching staff would feel comfortable giving him snaps at tackle, then they can only carry eight. I don't have that much faith in a rookie yet though. Otherwise Elton Brown is the only backup OT.

DT/NT: (2) - Gabe Watson & Alan Branch

If the Cards play much 4-3, then a couple defensive ends will have to slide down to tackle but Watson and Branch should be a great rotation as 3-4 nose tackles.

DE: (6) - Darnell Dockett, Antonio Smith, Bryan Robinson, Calais Campbell,  Kenny Iwebema, Bo Schobel

That's an awful lot of guys to fill just two positions but four of them (Dockett, Smith, Robinson and Campbell) can also slide down to DT when the Cardinals decides to roll out a 4-3. In the end it looks like a deep a talented unit where everyone should stay fresh.

OLB: (5) - Chike Okeafor, Bertrand Berry, Clark Haggans & Travis LaBoy

The outside backers are deep and talented and should make for a formidable rotation. Chris Harrington will end up on the practice squad as the conversion from college defensive end to NFL linebacker is too much to overcome in one offseason.

ILB: (5) - Karlos Dansby, Gerald Hayes, Monty Beisel, Matt Stewart, Ali Highsmith

Call me crazy but somehow I just think Highsmith, the undrafted free agent, will do too much in the preseason to not make the 53. He'll have to keep his motor in high gear especially on special teams. He'll take his lumps but he's a player.

CBs: (5) - Roderick Hood, Eric Green, DRC, Matt Ware & Micheal Adams

Youth and athleticism rule the secondary as Ware and Adams beat out veteran Ralph Brown. DRC won't win the starting job for week 1, but he'll take over for Green before mid-season.

FS/SS: (4) - Adrian Wilson, Antrel Role, Aaron Francisco & Oliver Celestin

The starting two are solid and as long as they're healthy, the secondary will be solid. Francisco and Celestin are adequate backups but we have to hope that they're role players behind Wilson and Role instead of fill-in starters in case of injury.

Specialists: (3) - Neil Rackers, Dirk Johnson & Nathan Hodel

If Rackers is even decent this unit is above average. If he has another season like 2007, they need to find another kicker mid-season.

Thoughts? What tweaks would you make?

Now that we've rolled all the way through the Cardinals draft and reviewed each pick, it's time for a little prognostication. Normally not every draft pick makes the 53 man roster, especially when a team has all 7 picks or more. It doesn't necessarily mean that a player who doesn't make the roster isn't any good but come on, you don't normally turn over 7.5 % (7/53) of your roster every year. Guys who are picked late in the draft, 6th or 7th rounders, can sometimes be slipped through to the practice squad. That way they can stick with the team and get a year of practice or being ready to play in case of injuries.

All that being said, who won't make the cut this year. The guys picked at the end of the draft are always the first candidates so we'll start with the 7th round and work backwards:

7th Rounder - Brandon Keith: Keith is a guy who has all the tools to play in this league. He's huge and athletic but he's got a spotty history at best. He's quit on teams in the past and was arrested shortly before the draft. It's not impossible that he could get to camp and prove that he simply doesn't have the mental capability to make it in this league.

6th Rounder - Chris Harrington: Guys going through a position change are always candidates for the practice squad. Harrington wasn't the normal pass rush specialist that teams convert to OLB so he might not make the transition as quickly as others. Not to mention the team is legitimately two deep at both OLB spots.

5th Rounder - Tim Hightower: He was a significant reach in the 5th round but the coaching staff loves this kid. He's got questions about his speed and there's already plenty of experienced depth (yet far from dynamic) at the running back position. He'll have to show something in camp to make the team b/c if he does another back will be cut.

4th Rounder - Kenny Iwebema: The only reason he wouldn't make it is if he just proves very quickly that he can't play. There's depth at the position so his spot isn't guaranteed but he'll have to lose his spot to not make the team.

The seventh, and final, round of the NFL Draft saw the Cardinals take their first offensive lineman, Brandon Keith. Keith is a typical late round pick in that most agree he has all the tools to be a decent to good NFL player but serious question marks about his character and desire to play football exist. His no doubt has the size (6’5 349), strength (32 bench reps at pro day) and athleticism (sub 5.0 forty) to play in this league. During his senior season at Northern Iowa, his only full season

as a starter, he started 11 games, registering 71 knockdowns with 11 TD resulting blocks while grading 81.78% for blocking consistency. He allowed just 4 sacks and two pressures in 322 passing plays. Prior to his senior season, Keith played in seven games, starting two but missed four games with a bone bruise in his right knee. His 2005 season was a complete waste after he transferred to Oklahoma from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Keith for whatever reason quit multiple times on the team and transferred to Northern Iowa after the 05 season.

He stood out from the pack at the Texas vs. the Nation All Star game and impressed scouts by displaying a solid punch, sustaining blocks and showing good knee bend. He also showed the versatility to play both guard and tackle. He followed up that impressive showing with getting arrested nearly a month later. Authorities were called to an event center after several fights broke out. Police tried to disperse the crowd but had to arrest three men (one of which was Keith) who refused to leave the scene.