Hat tip to Pyromnc (below) for breaking the news.

The Arizona Cardinals have signed second round pick Cody Brown to a four year contract today. Brown, a former defensive end at the University of Connecticut, was selected by the Cardinals in the second round. Over his final two season at U-Conn Brown amassed 33 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks while becoming the most explosive defender in the Big East Conference. The financial terms of the deal were not released (but they'll most likely leak out before the end of the day).

ROTB's coverage of Brown:

• Draft day coverage
• Interview with ROTB
• Cody Brown's future

In order to make room for Brown on the roster the Cardinals released undrafted rookie Tony Davis. Davis, a corner/safety from Penn State. The only remaining rookie left to be signed in Chris Wells and according to GM Rod Graves, talks are ongoing and progressing. Players officially report to camp tomorrow (Wednesday) and there will be a conditioning test on Thursday but the first actual practice is not until Friday.

The Arizona Cardinals entered the 2009 draft with a significant need at running back and in response they book-ended their picks with a first round power back and a seventh round small and shifty back. As you'd expect their big first round back, Chris Wells, is expected to have a much larger impact on the Cardinals immediate future than their seventh round pick, but LaRod Stephens-Howling might surprise some people before it's all over. Of course he's already surprised quite a few scouts simply by being drafted.

LSH, a tiny player by NFL standards (5-7, 180), played his final two seasons at the University of Pittsburgh in the shadow of LeSean McCoy after leading the Panthers in rushing in his freshman and sophomore seasons. Despite contributing from a backup role, LSH was a consistent contributor who was awarded the team's Most Inspirational Player as a senior. He racked up stats as a runner, receiver and kick returner during his career and was known as an extremely hard worker who always did whatever he was asked. Despite his small stature, he's packed on quite a bit of muscle and was not limited to running outside the tackles in college. His size makes him hard to locate behind the line and he's a very cerebral player capable of learning multiple positions and mastering difficult assignments. As a runner LSH has tremendous speed (4.41 at Pitt's pro day) as well as an exceptional burst and shiftiness. He's an accomplished receiver and even lined up as a wide out at Pitt. Most of his experience as a kick returner came in his senior year when he fielded 23 kickoffs for a 21.4 yard average although he did return a kick 95 yards as a true freshman. LSH is often compared to another diminutive RB/KR Darren Sproles (5-6, 185) and they do share a similar running style with their speed and shiftiness.

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More photos » by Matt York - AP

5 months ago: Arizona Cardinals' Rashad Johnson (41) keeps cool during team workouts Tuesday, May 19, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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The Arizona Cardinals front office continues to work on signing their draft class and today they announced that third round pick, Rashad Johnson has signed a three year deal. As usual the financial terms haven't been disclosed but it won't take long for them to leak out so we'll update as soon as we have the information. Johnson is the sixth draft pick to agree on contract terms, leaving only the first two selections in April's draft, Chris Wells and Cody Brown, left unsigned.

Details of the contract: RJ will receive a signing bonus of roughly $490K and includes base salaries of $310,000, $395,000 and $480,000.

To make room on the roster the Cardinals released undrafted free agent wide receiver Shane Morales. Morales faced an uphill battle making the roster not only because he's a reciever on a team stock piled with receivers and he was undrafted but he also missed all of the team's OTA's for the same school conflict that Beanie Wells had to work around.

Johnson was kind enough to sit down for an interview with ROTB shortly after he was drafted and he made it clear that he's ready to help this team win ball games in whatever capacity they see fit:

My expectations are just to come in and play on defense, special teams and just to do everything I can. So if that's coming in and playing the nickel safety, then I happy with that and taking every rep on special teams. So I guess my expectations are just that when I get on opportunity to get on the field, to just play, be successful and be consistent week in and week out.

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We said it about a million times this off season but the Arizona Cardinals struggled to stop the opposition's passing game throughout the 2008 season and they've spent most of the off season trying to shore up and rebuild the secondary. Since that fateful game on the first day of February, the Cards have signed a big name free agent corner back (Bryant McFadden), released or didn't re-sign both of their opening day starters from one year ago (Rod Hood and Eric Green) and used two of their first four picks in April's draft on youngsters to add depth. The first of these two picks, Rashad Johnson, is an ball hawking safety from one of the biggest NFL football factories in the NCAA, but the Redbirds next selection was a player of a much lower profile.

Gregory Toler, a tall lanky corner back, is the first player to ever be drafted out of Saint Paul's College, a tiny D-II school tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southern Virginia. After poor grades in high school prevented him from a being recruited by any major colleges, Toler chose the Kurt Warner path the NFL, stocking shelves and sweeping the aisles at a local JC Penney. Toler eventually got back into the game via a small semi-pro league and caught the eye of St. Paul's defensive coordinator, Kevin Grisby. Grisby became a father figure to Toler, helping him with his grades as well as football, and Toler quickly became a stand out player. He'd go on to start 40 games at St. Paul's and set school records with 14 interceptions, 36 pass breakups and 50 passes defended. He'd receive All-CIAA first team honors twice and received All-American honors following his senior season. Despite a banner collegiate career, Toler wasn't invited to the combine and didn't generate a ton of interest leading up to the draft. That didn't stop the Cardinals from calling his name in the fourth round though with the 131st overall selection. Almost immediately after the Cardinals called Toler's name the comparisons to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie started. The physical similarities seems valid considering that both have good size and outstanding athleticism. Toler's listed as 5'11, 191 (vs. 6'2, 182 for DRC) and he reportedly ran his forty in the high 4.3's (vs. 4.3 for DRC), but what can we expect from Toler this season and in the future?

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More photos » by Matt York - AP

5 months ago: Arizona Cardinals' Rashad Johnson (41) keeps cool during team workouts Tuesday, May 19, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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The Arizona Cardinals defense gave up more passing touchdowns than any team in the league last year so it should be no surprise that upgrading the secondary was a major point of emphasis this off season. The Cardinals biggest free agent signing, Bryant McFadden, is expected to start at one corner back spot and third round pick Rashad Johnson is also expected to play a significant role as a backup safety. That's a tall order for a guy who has yet to play his first down of NFL football but Johnson seems to be exactly what the doctor ordered. At the University of Alabama Johnson went from walk-on to just the second two-time team captain in school history. During that time he endured a position change ( running back to safety), a coaching change (Mike Shula to Nick Saban) yet still managed to rack up 224 tackles, 19 pass breakups and five interceptions while being named first team All-SEC both seasons as a starter. To put the cherry on top of Johnson's career to this point, he was kind enough to sit down for a quick interview with your very own Revenge of the Birds.

With the starters at strong and free safety (Adrian Wilson and Antrel Rolle respectively) practically set in stone Johnson is most likely battling for playing time with Aaron Francisco and Keith Lewis. He will undoubtedly be a factor on special teams early in his career, but how quickly can he become a starter and what should we expect from him this season?

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The Arizona Cardinals signed their fourth round draft pick, Greg Toler to a three year deal. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed although it's rumored to be 3 years for $1.5 million and Toler will reportedly receive a signing bonus worth $316,000. Toler is the fifth draft pick to sign overall (Herman Johnson, LaRod Stephens-Howling, Trevor Canfield) and the second of the week (Will Davis). Chris Wells, Cody Brown and Rashad Johnson, the teams three top picks, remain unsigned.

Toler, a 5'11 191 pound cornerback, is drawing comparisons to last year's first round pick, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, thanks to his size, athleticism and background. Toler went to school at tiny Saint Paul's College in Virginia after poor grades kept him out of bigger schools and almost out of college entirely. Once he got to school though his grades improved and Toler stared recording 14 interceptions, 36 pass breakups and 50 passes defended in 40 games. He's expected to battle for the nickel corner job in training camp.

The team also released undrafted rookie Justin Brown out of Hampton. In two seasons at Hampton, after transferring from JUCO, he caught 84 balls for 1,370 yards (16.3 avg) and eleven touchdowns. Brown was thought by some to be the highest rated undrafted free agent that the Cardinals signed.

The Arizona Cardinals signed their sixth round draft pick today with Will Davis agreeing to a three year deal. As usual with the Cardinals, financial terms were not disclosed but you can almost guarantee that it's three years at the minimum each year with a small signing bonus the yearly basis are all for the league minimums and his signing bonus was $66,000. Davis, an University of Illinois product, is expected to compete at outside linebacker after playing defensive end in college.

Davis arrived at Illinois as a wide receiver but quickly moved from tight end to defensive end and that's where he played for most of his time at Illinois. He had a breakout junior season in which he totaled 9 1/2 sacks but injuries along the defensive line forced him inside to tackle as a senior and he struggled, recording just 3 1/2 sacks. In total, Davis recorded 15 sacks during his college career but he'll be asked to learn yet another position with the Cardinals. We talked to the head writer at Hail to the Orange (SBNation's Illinois site) about Davis' abilities and he was impressed by Davis' ability to get to the quarterback:

Will Davis was probably the best pure pass rusher on the team last year and the year before.......In pure passing situations his quickness and instincts will result in him getting to the QB more often than not, but he's in trouble when teams run at him.

The Cardinals also released punter Waylon Prather, leaving veteran Ben Graham as the only punter on the team, in order to make room for Davis. Previous rookies who have signed include Trevor Canfield, LaRod Stephens-Howling, Herman Johnson. 

The front office of the Arizona Cardinals is staying busy with their second signing in as many days. Yesterday they got LaRod Stephens-Howling inked to a three year deal and today they do the same with fellow seventh round pick, Trevor Canfield. As usual the financial terms have not been released by you can expect Canfield's contract, much like Stephens-Howlings, to be for three years with very small base salaries and a minimal signing bonus.

Canfield, a three year starter at the University of Cincinnati, has spent most of his career at guard but he has some experience at center as well. His calling card has been his mobility and lateral quickness but despite decent size, he's never been a very good drive blocker. He'll certainly have to get stronger and perhaps add some weight to his frame before he pushes for playing time. Given the depth across the offensive line, he'll have to have a good training camp in order to make the 53 and proving to be a reliable option at center might prove to be his best chance. 

Canfield's signing marks the third rookie to sign, preceded by Herman "Munster" Johnson and LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Update #1: Darren Urban made good point about the roster size after Canfield's signing. There are 85 players on the current roster so each pick signed from here on out will have to also be followed by cutting a player to make room.