Jontre Kirklin

Cardinals Trim Roster To 53 Players

The Cardinals have set their 53-man roster, and the team naturally had to make some tough decisions as they cut down their roster:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

Placed on reserve/suspended:

It sounded like Trace McSorley had an opportunity to stick on the roster as a third QB behind Kyler Murray and Colt McCoy, but the Cardinals decided to carry only a pair of quarterbacks through their first wave of cuts. There’s a chance that McSorley resurfaces on the practice squad. The former sixth-round pick has seen time in three career games, completing three of his 10 pass attempts for 90 yards and one touchdown.

Aaron Brewer is a bit of a surprise cut after serving as the Cardinals full-time long snapper for the past six years. However, there’s a good chance the 32-year-old lands back on the active roster once the Cardinals place players on their respective reserve lists. The same could also probably be said of tight end Stephen Anderson, who caught 24 passes across 33 games with the Chargers over the past two seasons.

Marquis Hayes was a seventh-round pick by the Cardinals in this year’s draft. The Oklahoma product will sit out his rookie campaign while sitting on injured reserve.

Cardinals Add 12 UDFAs

The Cardinals clearly targeted wide receivers and defensive lineman after the draft, with Arizona adding seven players at those positions among their 12 undrafted free agent signings:

The addition of four receivers could partly be attributed to today’s news regarding star wideout DeAndre Hopkins. Among the grouping, Robinson put up the biggest numbers in 2021, finishing with 625 receiving yards. Payton was also plenty productive, finishing with 18 receptions for 413 yards and six scores.

As Darren Urban of the team’s website points out, it’s notable that the organization didn’t bring in a QB among their UDFAs. The Cardinals are currently rostering only three players at the position in Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy, and Trace McSorley.