After a couple of days without a lot of news, we got a big one for now. Alan Faneca who spent the last year of his career here in Arizona has retired after thirteen seasons in the NFL. This does create some more questions along the Offensive Line that already has a few question marks, but it looks like Rex Hadnot will be the guy who moves over to take his spot on the line.
Cardinals News:Nine-time Pro Bowler Alan Faneca of Arizona Cardinals retires from NFL - ESPN
Nine-time Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca announced his retirement Tuesday,
Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Alan Faneca announces retirement
Guard Alan Faneca announced his retirement Tuesday, ending a 13-year career that could one day land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Word From the Birds Blog - Faneca decides to retire
Kent Somers (and other outlets) is/are reporting that guard Alan Faneca has decided to retire from the NFL, something Faneca said he was heavily considering when we got to the end of the season. Faneca played the final season of his 13-year career with the Cards, after playing for the Steelers and Jets. Had things gone differently, he likely would have ended up in Arizona longer because of his relationship with offensive line coach Russ Grimm, but when he was available back in 2008 the Cards couldn’t make it work while trying to sign Larry Fitzgerald to his new deal. So the Faneca-Grimm reunion had to wait until 2010.
Alan Faneca going out the right way - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Alan Faneca is retiring as the starting left guard for an offensive line coached by Hall of Famer Russ Grimm. There are worse ways to go out. Faneca, 34, started all 16 regular-season games over his final nine seasons, including in 2010, his lone season with the Arizona Cardinals.
Ex-Cardinals and current analyst thinks Bulger is right for Cards - ArizonaSports.com
There's one former Arizona Cardinal turned NFL Network analyst who thinks Marc Bulger is the perfect fit as the team's new quarterback. It's not who you'd think though. Jamie Dukes, an offensive lineman who played for the Cardinals in 1995, said on the NFL Network Monday he thinks that Bulger gives the best chance to win similar to the way his co-worker, Kurt Warner, did when he arrived in Arizona.
Word From the Birds Blog - The unknown of free agency
Given the current labor situation, free agency has been one big question mark. And it’s not just the "when" but the "how." That was crystallized yesterday when the NFL put out a statement saying the league is looking into "a wide range" of rules for everything once the league year does start, including what players would hit the open market.
Competitive Charity
Cards' coaches give back, but want to win as well at golf tourney
Cardinals may have competition for veteran quarterbacks - ArizonaSports.com
The Arizona Cardinals may have their eyes set on a few veteran quarterbacks for the upcoming season but it's starting to sound like they'll have competition for their services. According to CSN Washington, the Washington Redskins have interest in two of the names that have been linked to the Cardinals over the last few months.
azcentral.com blogs - Kent Somers - What did you do during the lockout?
The lockout has given players extra time to devote to their interests outside of football. A couple of the Cardinals younger players are delving into the world of entertainment.
Cardinals rookie gets first Arizona surprise - ArizonaSports.com
Sam Acho, welcome to Arizona. The Cardinals' fourth round pick in last month's draft arrived in the Valley and completed his first workout with some of the players. Among the things he didn't expect: the weather.
Alan Faneca Retiring No Surprise Or Set Back For Cardinals - SB Nation Arizona
Alan Faneca will be hanging up his cleats and retiring from the NFL after a fantastic 13-year career. The news of his retirement, however, isn't a surprise to the Arizona Cardinals. We've been hearing for weeks now that Faneca was considering this and so the announcement today is simply confirmation.
Alan Faneca retires | ProFootballTalk
Alan Faneca, a nine-time Pro Bowl guard who has played for the Steelers, Jets and Cardinals, is calling it a career. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Faneca made the decision recently after deciding to prioritize time with his family over playing football.
Flash Points: Cardinals' defining moment - NFC West Blog - ESPN
What key event significantly changed the fortunes of the Cardinals -- for better or worse? Give us your take and we’ll give you our definitive moment on May 19.
Arizona Sports News:
azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Orange Slices - PaulCoro - Hill left off All-Defensive teams
It was at the NBA coaches' discretion whether to put Grant Hill on their All-Defensive first and second teams. But it took creative postseason award positioning to keep Hill off the team.
azcentral.com blogs - Nick Piecoro - For starters, it's been a struggle; Brewer feeling better; farm report
Joe Saunders pitched pretty well outside of the first inning on Sunday. But the first inning counts the same as the rest, and that four-run frame alone was enough to prevent the Diamondbacks from chalking up a quality start, a rudimentary but still sometimes telling statistic. The Diamondbacks have just 16 of them in 33 games, tying them for the third-fewest in the National League. Their offense might have a more competitive feel from game-to-game and inning-to-inning and they might be striking out a whole lot less, but it’s hard to win many games when your starting rotation isn’t doing its job.
NFL News:
Gus Johnson Joins Fox After 16-Year Career At CBS, According To Report - SBNation.com
Gus Johnson will now join Fox to broadcast games as CBS declined to match the rival network's offer on Monday, according to the New York Daily News' Bob Raissman. The sources informing Raissman believe that one major factor in this decision was over Johnson's association with March Madness. Supposedly other members of the CBS Sports basketball team were not pleased that Johnson became the signature broadcaster of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Study shows NFL players wore inferior helmets in 2010 - ESPN
Nearly 40 percent of NFL players last season wore a helmet model that got the second-lowest rating for reducing the risk of concussions in a study by Virginia Tech researchers.
Where NFC West lags in power rankings - NFC West Blog - ESPN
NFC West teams have fared poorly in ESPN.com NFL Power Rankings for ownership, head coaches, quarterbacks and pass-rushers. The rankings reflect and also explain why teams from the division haven't fared very well in recent seasons.
Which late-round picks could show early - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Omar from Baltimore wants to know which late-round NFC West draft picks will likely have the greatest positive impact in the division.
Report: Assistant coaches, players in regular contact during lockout | ProFootballTalk
Make sure you are sitting down before you read the following breaking news: NFL coaches are not following the rules of the lockout. Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reports that assistant coaches and players across the league have been keeping in close contact regarding workouts, often with weekly chats.
League monitoring coach-player contact in "various ways" | ProFootballTalk
Earlier today, Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reported that players and assistant coaches have been in regular contact during the lockout, despite clear orders against having such communications. While tracking down a similar rumor (unconfirmed at this point), relating specifically to the presence of an assistant coach at player-organized workouts, we asked the league whether efforts are being made to actively police the possibility of prohibited contact.
NFL's opening brief says judge ignored potential harm to league with injunction - ESPN
The NFL says a federal judge failed to consider all the harm that would be inflicted on team owners when she lifted football's labor lockout last month.
Court to reconsider case of man accused of 2008 Super Bowl threat - ESPN
A federal appeals court will reconsider the case of an Arizona man accused of planning a massacre at the 2008 Super Bowl before changing his mind.