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The Arizona Cardinals, after receiving a visit from tight end John Carlson on Thursday, have added the six-year veteran to the team, signing him to a two-year contract on Friday.
n 27 games with 14 starts. He went to Minnesota as a free agent in 2012 following four years in Seattle where he established the top two seasons in team history for catches by a tight end with 55 receptions as a rookie in 2008 and 51 receptions in 2009. He also set franchise marks for a tight end with seven touchdowns in 2009 and 627 receiving yards in 2008.
The 29-year old Carlson began his career with the Seahawks after being selected in the second round (38th overall) in the 2008 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. For his career, he has played in 74 games with 52 starts and has 177 receptions for 1,906 yards (10.8 yard avg.) and 14 touchdowns.
Carlson was released by the Vikings on Wednesday.
He joins Rob Housler, Brett Brackett, Darren Fells and Andre Hardy on the roster.
Here is some insight I got from Christopher Gates, who runs Daily Norseman:
Carlson had a rough couple of years in Minnesota. He was brought in as a pass catching threat, but was limited by the carousel that the Vikings put out there at quarterback. He also dealt with a number of injuries, including two season-ending concussions in two seasons. When he's healthy, he can still be a pretty decent threat down the seam, with decent speed and pretty good hands, though he doesn't offer a whole lot as a blocker. However, the concussion issue has to be worrisome for the Cardinals. If he can stay healthy, the Cardinals have gotten themselves a pretty decent player, but the concussion issue is a tough one to shake.
Update:
Carlson's contract numbers are in, according to Ian Rappoport. Carlson is not on a super cheap deal.
The #Cardinals are paying TE John Carlson $4.65M over two years, according to a source.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 7, 2014
