Lyle Sendlein - Pro Football Rumors

Lyle Sendlein Likely To Retire

March 23rd, 2016 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

While nothing is official is yet, Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians suggested today that center Lyle Sendlein will likely retire this offseason, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (via Twitter). “As far as I know,” Arians said. “I don’t think he’s announced it yet.”

Sendlein, who turned 32 last Wednesday, has been the Cardinals’ starting center for most of the last decade, appearing in 136 regular season games (124 starts) for the team since 2007. The Texas alum ranked 27th out of 39 qualified centers in 2015, according to Pro Football Focus, which graded him as a slightly better run blocker than pass blocker.

If Sendlein does decide to continue his career, it seems likely to happen in Arizona. Last year, the team was prepared to move on without him, but didn’t like its options at center in training camp, and ultimately re-signed the veteran in August.

This time around, center is one of the few spots on the Cardinals’ offensive line that doesn’t already have a clear-cut starter lined up. Whoever ends up landing the job will have good company on either side of him, with Mike Iupati and Evan Mathis penciled in as the club’s starting guards.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: A. Davis, Rivers, Foles, Sendlein

August 12th, 2015 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

When former 49ers right tackle Anthony Davis announced his decision to leave the team earlier this offseason, it wasn’t considered a permanent retirement. Davis has since expressed a desire to return to football in 2016 after a year away, but coach Jim Tomsula isn’t thinking about a reunion just yet, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes.

“First of all, I’m not thinking about the playing side with Anthony,” Tomsula said. “He’s taking care of Anthony. I’m excited about hearing that he’d like to come back with football. I think that speaks volumes of where he’s at and how he’s feeling. That’s a different time and a different place. It does make you feel good. Obviously, things are going in the right direction for him.”

Here’s more from out of the NFL’s two West divisions:

If the Chargers don’t work out a new contract with Philip Rivers before the season begins, the team is “fully prepared” to use the franchise tag on him in 2016 and – if necessary – 2017, writes Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. According to La Canfora, the two sides have made significant progress in extension negotiations, but there are still at least one or two issues holding up a potential agreement.
La Canfora also passes along several details on Nick Foles‘ extension with the Rams, reporting that the deal includes $13.8MM in fully guaranteed money. The contract could void in 2017 if Foles meets certain team and individual goals, and he could also make up to $4.5MM in incentives based on individual and team achievements (all Twitter links).
Center Lyle Sendlein‘s one-year deal with the Cardinals is worth $1.4MM with $500K fully guaranteed, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. With playing time incentives, the center could earn close to $2MM, Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic tweets.
Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link), Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson said, “I’m not ready for retirement and I have a lot of football left in me.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

NFC Notes: Peterson, Sendlein, Guion, Saints, Sproles

August 7th, 2015 at 9:31pm CST by Rob DiRe

The relationship between the Vikings and star-running back Adrian Peterson had seemingly become strained since he missed 15 games last season after a domestic violence charge. Even so, Peterson has stated that not only does he want to keep playing until he is in his late thirties, and said he would have no problem signing another long-term contract with the team, in a Q&A with Ben Goessling of ESPN.

Here are some more stories from around the NFC:

Newly re-signed Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein said he had interest from other teams throughout the NFL, according to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (via Twitter). “Deep down,” said Sendlein, “we wanted to come back here.”
The appeal of Letroy Guion‘s three-game suspension stemming from an offseason arrest will be heard by the NFL on August 24th, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
Tight end Jean Sifrin got a tryout with the Saints, according to Nick Underhill and Joel Erickson of the New Orleans Advocate (via Twitter).
Former Saints defensive end Glenn Foster, who was released recently, said he needs about one month to complete the rehab on his knee, according to Mike Triplett of ESPN. Foster still plans to sign somewhere when healthy and play in 2015.
Despite adding workhorse running back DeMarco Murray and former Charger Ryan Mathews, head coach Chip Kelly sees a bigger role in the Eagles’ offense for Darren Sproles. While that could be the result of a pair of running backs with injury history, Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes the extra snaps and touches will like come as a receiver in 2015.

Cardinals Re-Sign Lyle Sendlein

August 7th, 2015 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

2:55pm: The Cardinals have officially re-signed Sendlein, per Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (via Twitter). The team also signed guard Nate Isles and wide receiver Travis Harvey, cutting quaterback Chandler Harnish in a corresponding move.

8:46am: The Cardinals are bringing in veteran center Lyle Sendlein for a physical today, and if everything goes according to plan, he’ll re-sign with the team, reports Mike Jurecki of Fox Sports 910 in Arizona (Twitter links). According to Jurecki, the Cards don’t appear content with their current centers, so Sendlein figures to get a chance to compete for the starting job if and when his signing becomes official.

Sendlein, 31, has been the Cardinals’ starting center for most of the last center, appearing in 121 regular season games (109 starts) for the team since 2007. The veteran offensive lineman started all 16 games at the position for Arizona in each of the last two seasons. However, he was released by the club in March after grading as the NFL’s second-worst center out of 41 qualified players in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus’ data (subscription required).

Shortly after the Cards cut Sendlein, head coach Bruce Arians indicated the team wouldn’t mind bringing him back at a reduced cap figure. The longtime Arizona center had been set to earn a $3MM base salary in 2015 before he was released, so when he re-signs, it figures to be for something closer to the minimum salary.

With Sendlein out of the picture for the past few months, the Cardinals have been leaning on A.Q. Shipley and Ted Larsen at center. However, it seems as if the team isn’t comfortable, at least for now, heading into the regular season with one of those two players as its starter. Either Shipley or Larsen could still ultimately win the job, but they’ll get some additional competition from the veteran Sendlein.

NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Rams, Cards

March 25th, 2015 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, Rams coach Jeff Fisher, and Cardinals coach Bruce Arians all offered up a few notable comments today during their morning session with reporters in Phoenix at the owners’ meetings. Let’s dive in and round up the highlights from the breakfast discussions, starting with the reigning NFC champs….

Pete Carroll
(Twitter links via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times and ESPN.com’s Terry Blount)

Carroll reiterated what GM John Schneider said earlier this week, indicating that defensive end Michael Bennett has never said anything to him about wanting to be traded or wanting a new contract.
Carroll is optimistic about a number of the team’s free agents returning to the fold, indicating the club plans to re-sign center Stephen Schilling and defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs. The head coach is also confident that the Seahawks will work something out with backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who remains on the market. Jackson visited the Dolphins, but Miami ultimately brought back QB Matt Moore.
Caroll suggested that the Seahawks and Russell Wilson‘s camp have had “great talks” about a new contract for the young signal-caller. “It’s a long process with extraordinary ramifications,” according to Caroll, but he’s hopeful that the two sides can work something out.

Jeff Fisher
(Twitter links via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, and Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com)

According to Fisher, trade discussions with the Browns involving quarterback Sam Bradford happened on the weekend of March 7, before free agency opened. The Rams eventually announced their deal with the Eagles on Tuesday, March 10.
The Browns’ offer for Bradford featured the No. 19 overall pick and never the No. 12 pick. However, Fisher said today that it wouldn’t have made a difference if Cleveland offered the higher first-rounder, since St. Louis still wouldn’t have gotten a QB back in the deal — the Eagles’ willingness to part with Nick Foles gave the Rams a Bradford replacement.
The Rams remain active in their search for offensive linemen, with talks expected to pick up again following this week’s league meetings. Joe Barksdale, who played right tackle for the team last year, is still an option, and the Rams are in talks with him. According to Fisher, Barksdale’s initial asking price was a little surprising, but it’s in a more reasonable range now, and “it makes sense to get Joe back.”
The Rams have added Jeff Imamura to their staff as a defensive assistant, according to Fisher. Imamura previously worked for the Vikings.

Bruce Arians
(Twitter links via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com and Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com)

The Cardinals cut center Lyle Sendlein earlier in the offseason, but would like to get him back on the roster at a reduced cap number.
Running back figures to be a spot the Cards will address in the draft, perhaps in the fourth or fifth round. The team is looking for a player with both size and speed.
The Cards also figure to look at cornerbacks in the draft. Arians said today that he wants to add a young, speedy corner, but doesn’t see a need to add a veteran to the roster.
Veteran linebacker Larry Foote is currently a member of the Cardinals’ coaching staff, but may still decide to play for the team in 2015. Arians is hopeful that Foote, who is recovering from knee surgery, will make that decision in time for training camp.

Cardinals To Release Lyle Sendlein

March 12th, 2015 at 2:56pm CST by Zachary Links

2:56pm: It’s official, according to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (on Twitter).

2:54pm: The Cardinals will release Lyle Sendlein soon, sources tell Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic (on Twitter). Somers suspects that Sendlein declined to take a pay cut. The door will be open for Sendlein to return, according to Somers, but he’ll test the open market first.

Sendlein, 30, was set to carry a $4.275MM in 2015. By releasing him, Arizona will save $3.15MM while carrying $1.125MM in dead money. Sendlein finished with an overall score of -29.1, per the metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required). That atrocious number placed him as the second-to-worst qualified center in the NFL last season. In 2013, Sendlein graded out as an above average center with 3.8 overall score.