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Josh Kaddu

Extra Points: Cards, Falcons, Fins, 49ers

September 21st, 2016 at 9:55pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Cardinals made an under-the-radar move in sending a 2018 seventh-round pick to Kansas City for cornerback Marcus Cooper on Sept. 2. Cooper failed to register a tackle in his Week 1 Cardinals debut, but he racked up seven and intercepted two passes, one of which he returned for a touchdown, in the team’s 40-7 win over the Buccaneers last Sunday. As a result, Cooper earned NFC defensive player of the week honors.

Cardinals general manager Steve Keim spoke to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic earlier this week about acquiring Cooper, saying, “We liked him coming out of Rutgers (2013) and he fit what we did schematically. He’s longer. And from Quentin Harris to Terry to all of our pro scouts, to Adrian Wilson to Malik Boyd, they all loved what he did on tape in the preseason. He was a guy we focused on. We weren’t sure if he was going to be released or not but liked him enough to call John Dorsey (Chiefs general manager) to see if he’d be willing to move Marcus for a conditional pick.”

Cooper’s picks Sunday were his first since his rookie year, 2013, when he hauled in three. In three seasons with KC, he made 38 appearances and totaled 11 starts.

More from around the NFL:

  • Falcons linebacker Paul Worrilow suffered a groin injury and will miss three to four weeks, his agent told D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Worrilow has been the Falcons’ leading tackler over the past three seasons. Prior to Worrilow’s injury, second-round rookie Deion Jones knocked him out of the starting lineup.
  • Dolphins running back Arian Foster is a long shot to play Sunday, but there is a chance he’ll play in two weeks, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Foster is dealing with a groin injury on top of his hamstring issue.
  • The 49ers worked out linebackers Curtis Grant, Kyrie Wilson and Josh Kaddu on Wednesday, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link). Grant ended up joining their practice squad.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Vikings Trim Roster To 75 Players

September 1st, 2015 at 9:10am CST by Rob DiRe

TUESDAY, 9:10am: The Vikings are now down to 75 players, having waived/injured quarterback Mike Kafka, according to the team (Twitter link). He’ll land on the team’s injured reserve list if he clears waivers.

MONDAY, 2:13pm: The Vikings have announced two more moves today, removing another two players from their active roster. According to a team release, Minnesota has waived/injured tackle Carter Bykowski, who will be out for the year with a pectoral injury, and placed cornerback Josh Robinson on the reserve/PUP list, meaning he’ll miss at least the first six weeks of the season.

SUNDAY, 6:30pm: The Vikings have moved closer to securing their 75-man roster, announcing that they’ve cut 11 players:

  • Joe Banyard, RB
  • Brandon Bostick, TE
  • Jalil Carter, CB
  • Justin Coleman, CB
  • DaVaris Daniels, WR
  • Stephen Goodin, OT
  • Josh Kaddu, LB
  • Jordan Leslie, WR
  • Caesar Rayford, DE
  • Chrishon Rose, DT
  • DeMarcus Van Dyke, CB

They currently have 78 men on the roster, and will need to cut an additional three players in time for the Tuesday deadline.

Vikings Place Anthony Barr On IR

December 27th, 2014 at 9:12am CST by Ben Levine

As expected, the Vikings have placed rookie outside linebacker Anthony Barr on injured reserve, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan. To take his spot on the roster, the team has promoted linebacker Josh Kaddu from the practice squad. This news comes about a week after we learned that the team was anticipating Barr missing the rest of the season with a knee injury.

The ninth-overall pick in this past year’s draft, Barr has been one of the most productive defensive rookies this season. The linebacker currently has the fifth-highest rating on Pro Football Focus (subscription required) among rookie defenders (following Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, Chris Borland and C.J. Mosley), and he leads all Vikings linebackers in snaps played. He’s compiled 70 tackles, four sacks and a pair of forced fumbles in 12 starts this season.

Kaddu was a fifth-round pick by the Dolphins in 2012, but he only made five appearances with Miami during his two-year tenure. He briefly spent time with the Eagles earlier this year before signing with Minnesota in September.

Barr gave Kaddu his vote of approval (via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Twitter):

“I think he has a great opportunity to help us out this weekend. … I think he’ll do well if he does.’’

East Notes: Dolphins, Pats, Giants, Redskins

September 3rd, 2014 at 9:17am CST by Luke Adams

While most teams around the NFL have set their 53-man rosters and 10-man practice squads for the season, we shouldn’t expect those clubs to just sit on their hands going forward. Many clubs have been auditioning players this week for potential spots on the active roster or practice squad, including several teams from the NFL’s two East divisions. Via Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, who passes along the latest updates in a series of tweets, here are the latest items out of the AFC and NFC East:

Eagles Reduce Roster To 53 Players

August 30th, 2014 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

The Eagles have officially finalized their 53-man roster, according to the team. In a press release, the Eagles announced the roster moves they made to get down to the regular-season limit. They are as follows:

The Eagles’ other eight roster-trimming moves were reported yesterday.

NFC East Notes: Sam, Vick, Cowboys, Austin

February 10th, 2014 at 6:03pm CST by Zachary Links

Could openly gay NFL draft prospect Michael Sam be a fit for the Eagles? Probably not, and it has nothing to do with his orientation, writes Jimmy Kempski of Philly.com. The Mizzou linebacker opened the season strong but his production slowed as the season went on. He racked up ten sacks in his first eight games but just 1.5 in his final six. Beyond that, his best fit is probably as a situational pass rusher in a 4-3, but Philly already has a 6’2, 260-ish pound 4-3 DE who can rush the passer, but struggles with everything else in Brandon Graham. More out of the NFC East..

  • Zach Berman of Philly.com offers up an evaluation of the quarterback position for the Eagles. Michael Vick won’t return unless he can’t find a starting job elsewhere and no one should expect that to happen. With questions about Matt Barkley, the Eagles will be looking for a reliable No. 2 QB to slot behind Nick Foles. Berman suggests Josh Freeman, Chad Henne, and Tarvaris Jackson as some possible candidates.
  • Despite talk that the Cowboys could be ready to move on from Miles Austin, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (on Twitter) notes that it doesn’t make sense to cut the wide receiver just yet. Cutting him now would save just $400K but releasing him after June 1st would bring them more cap relief.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap (on Twitter) adds that releasing Austin after June 1st will give the Cowboys enough space to sign their rookie class.
  • Mike Jones of the Washington Post asks if the Redskins should move on from Brandon Meriweather.
  • Wide receiver Joe Anderson got a $20K bonus on his futures deal from the Eagles while Josh Kaddu got $25K to sign, tweets Bryan McIntyre.