Free agency movement, or lack there of in the case of the Arizona Cardinals, is still dominating news and talk around the league. Some teams, like Denver, are reshaping their entire roster while other teams, like our very own Cardinals, have yet to make a single significant move. Considering that Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm are running the show in the desert though, this really shouldn't be a big surprise. The Steelers have never been a franchise that made a habit of jumping into the free agnet pool and so far the Cardinals seem to be adopting that mindset as well. There was some small movement announced yesterday though and plenty of Kurt Warner talk.
- The club officially announced the signing of three players, Brian St. Pierre, Keith Lewis and Ben Graham, even though we'd already heard about them several days ago. Pierre will be back as the third (hopefully) quarterback while Lewis provides more depth at safety but more importantly another special teams standout. Graham signed a two year deal so it might mean that the coaching staff won't bring in another punter to compete with him during training camp.
- The Cardinals also filled out their coaching staff yesterday by hiring two quality control coaches. Chad Grimm (yes the son of assistant head coach Russ) will fill the offensive side and Ryan Slowik, who spent last season as a special teams assistant with the Broncos, will fill the defensive side.
- Ok, on the 800 pound elephant in the corner. Yesterday was Kurt Warner day in San Francisco as he spent the day getting a physical and meeting with the Niners' head coach Mike Singletary and front office. They charted a private plane for him and chauffeured him and his wife, via a limo, to and from the airport. Some suggest that the private jet and limo indicate the Niners being seriously interested while others have said that Warner bringing his wife indicates that he's seriously considering the move.
- As of right now, we don't know of any contract offer from the Niners and there hasn't even been word that a contract offer is on the horizon, but I suppose it's only a matter of time. We did learn, or at heard via a rumor, what exactly the Cardinals offered Warner. Mike Sando has a solid breakdown of the situation and lists two different sources that both suggest that the Cardinals offer was a one year contract at $10 million with a team option for a second year at the same salary. That's not exactly the two year deal that has been reported by most and it's understandable why Warner is still on the market if that is in fact the offer on the table. Some people are expecting some movement by Wednesday but most still expect Warner to bring any offer he recieves to the Cardinals so that they have a chance to match.
- As for the three free agent visitors from yesterday, there's been no word on contract offers to any of them and Kent Somers described the visits as more of a meet and greet session. He expects them to talk contract today but points out that McFadden could be well outside the Cardinals price range if he's looking for a contract that averages close to $7 million a season (which he most certainly is). Somers says that the Cardinals are looking for a corner in the $3 to $4 million dollar range and if that's the case, they're wasting their time with McFadden.
Other free agent tidbits from around the league include:
- Derrick Ward signing with the Bucs (how many RB's do they have now?).
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TJ Houshmandzadeh signing with the Seahawks.
- Ron Bartell re-signing with the Rams (another CB off the market at $7 million per season).
- Antonio Cromartie (DRC's cousin) could be on the trading block in San Diego.
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Jason Taylor was released by the Redskins after the two sides couldn't agree on a restructed contract.