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The Arizona Cardinals have added another player to their roster just before the start of voluntary minicamp. According to XTRA 910's Mike Jurecki, they have added tight end and long snapper Alex Gottlieb to their roster.
Gottlieb was an undrafted free agent in 2012 and was with the Detroit Lions in camp.
He will provide competition to 13-year veteran Mike Leach, who has been the long snapper for the team since 2009. Leach is 36 years old and is in the second year of a three-year, $3.2 million contract.
Interestingly enough, Gottlieb is almost a younger clone of Leach. Gottlieb went to school at William and Mary and is a tight end and long snapper. Leach went to the same school and is a long snapper that is also a tight end (though it has been ages since he has played the position).
More than likely, Gottlieb is intended to be a camp body, but this at least creates a little bit of competition. Leach has been in the league a long time and paying a long snapper a million dollars is a lot. Chances are that Leach is retained, but if Gottlieb can prove to be at least nearly as good, or if he proves to be slightly more versatile it could save the team some money. Leach, if released, would only count against the cap a little more than $130,000, according to SpoTrac.
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