When you draft a first round, high profile running back then cut the 11th leading rusher in NFL history, the traditional media tends to take notice. It also doesn't hurt when you cut two other starters and have a bevy of unresolved contract issues.Needless to say there are a fair share of Arizona Cardinals-related stories floating around out there. Here are a few that caught our eye:
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Sports Illustrated takes a look at where Edgerrin James will land, with the Saints, Eagles and Texans rounding out the top three.
- Mike Sando answers a question about the possibility of Anquan Boldin holding out during training camp, but Sando wisely points out that Boldin has very little to gain and much to lose from that move.
- If you're still thirsting for draft coverage, check out the team's official site. Their draft page is second to none.
- While we're on the topic of the NFL draft, it appears as if the New Orleans Saints almost selected Beanie Wells with the 14th overall pick and once he slipped past the 20th pick, they burnt up the phone lines trying to trade back into the first round. They supposedly had serious talks with the Patriots and Packers in the late first round but in end they just didn't have the ammunition to complete the trade. They had previously traded their second and third round picks for Jeremy Shockey and Jonathan Vilma. It would have been very interesting if each of the top three backs were off the board when the Cards picked at 31.
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Kent Somers takes a quick look at this weekends' mini-camp and says that a late 'contract related muscle strain' from Boldin wouldn't be a big surprise, but that having him on the practice field could help the progression of 4th round pick Greg Toler.
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What if Sports ranks the top 100 rookies in terms of impact that they'll have on their respective teams with Beanie Wells coming in a 19th, Rashad Johnson showing up at 28th and Big Herman Johnson bringing up the rear at 71st. We should point out though that they ran the same thing last year and DRC was supposed to be a disappointing 55th behind other Cardinal rookies, Early Doucet (51st) and Calais Campbell (35th) (so much for that).
- Pro Football Weekly has a small blurb about Alan Branch changing his eating habits in an effort to keep his metabolism up and his weight down. They also agree that it's common knowledge that he's facing a make or break season.
- If you really want to make you head spin, check out a seven round 2010 mock draft, but have no fear, they aren't the only ones who are ready to look ahead to next April.
- Michael Lombardi takes a quick look at the Cardinals 1st round selection of Beanie Wells and sums it up like this:
The Cardinals wanted Donald Brown in the first round and had to settle for Beanie Wells, but for me, that's not a settle. Beanie is one of the best backs in the draft and will make the Cards' offense even more explosive. When playing a three wideout set, the key component is the back, and Wells will be very effective. I love the value.