The Cardinals announced a flurry of moves, bringing them close to the 75-man roster limit. The complete list is below.
Waived:
Waived/Injured:
IR:
With Dillon out of the picture, Kameron Canaday has ostensibly won the Cardinals’ long snapper job.
Cardinals cornerback Mike Jenkins is done for the season, coach Bruce Arians told reporters just moments ago. The cardinals signed Jenkins in mid-July with the hope that he could provide the team with additional depth at the position. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken bone in his hand less than two weeks later. He returned to action in August only to tear his ACL. 
Jenkins, 31, had been sitting on the open market since his contract with the Buccaneers expired in March. He spent the past two seasons in Tampa, although he appeared in only 15 total games, as his 2014 campaign was wiped out by a pectoral injury. Save for one year with the Raiders, the rest of Jenkins’ action came with the Cowboys, the club that made him a first-round pick back in 2008. All told, Jenkins has 101 games (68 starts) under his belt, and has posted 10 interceptions during his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
We will round up all of the day’s more significant injury news right here:
11:10am: The Cardinals formally announced the signing of Jenkins. To make room, they have cut cornerback Carrington Byndom.
8:17am: The Cardinals have agreed to terms with free agent cornerback Mike Jenkins, according to Luke Easterling of USA Today (Twitter link). Financial terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but it’s likely a one-year pact with little or no guaranteed money. The deal is still pending the results of a physical, according to Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Reviewing the Arizona Cardinals’ offseason]
Jenkins, 31, has been sitting on the open market since his contract with the Buccaneers expired in March. He spent the past two seasons in Tampa, although he appeared in only 15 totals games, as his 2014 campaign was wiped out by a pectoral injury. Save for one year with the Raiders, the rest of Jenkins’ action came with the Cowboys, the club that made him a first-round pick back in 2008. All told, Jenkins has 101 games (68 starts) under his belt, and has posted 10 interceptions during his career.
Arizona isn’t a bad landing spot for Jenkins, given that the club hasn’t truly replaced 2015 starting corner Jerraud Powers. The Cardinals appear to be counting on special teamer Justin Bethel to start opposite Patrick Peterson, and given that slot corner extraordinaire Tyrann Mathieu is still on the mend, it makes sense that Arizona is adding more secondary depth. It’s fair to wonder how much Jenkins can help, however, given that he graded as a bottom-20 corner last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
[RELATED: Arizona Cardinals depth chart]
At the very least, Jenkins should be able to help on the Cardinals’ special teams unit, as he played on roughly a quarter of Tampa Bay’s ST snaps last season. Arizona needs all the help it can get on special teams, as the club ranked 29th in special teams DVOA in 2015.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Buccaneers have re-signed three players from their 2014 team, the team announced today in a press release. Most notably, the club is bringing back cornerback Mike Jenkins, whose ’14 campaign came to an early end due to a pectoral injury. Luke Easterlin of DraftBreakdown.com first reported (via Twitter) that the two sides had agreed to a one-year deal.
Jenkins, who turns 30 later this month, started 15 games for the Raiders in 2013, recording 65 tackles and grabbing a pair of interceptions. He parlayed that performance into a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Bucs and had been expected to play a major role in the team’s secondary before he went down with his season-ending injury in Week 1. This time around, he’ll likely receive a more modest salary, and will probably have to compete for a roster spot and for playing time.
As for the Bucs’ other Thursday signings, the team has also locked up linebacker Danny Lansanah and safety Bradley McDougald to new one-year contracts by extending them tender offers. Both players had been exclusive rights free agents, meaning they weren’t able to negotiate with any other teams. They’ll get minimum salary deals for 2015.
Yesterday, we heard that the Buccaneers had signed cornerback Crezdon Butler and claimed defensive end Jacquies Smith off waivers, and now the team has announced the corresponding roster moves for those additions. According to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (via Twitter), the team has waived defensive end Scott Solomon and placed Mike Jenkins on injured reserve with a season-ending pectoral injury.
While Alterraun Verner was Tampa Bay’s major offseason addition at cornerback, Jenkins was expected to play a key role in the secondary as well, so losing him will be a blow for the Bucs’ defense. While the team only signed him to a one-year deal in the offseason, his entire $1.5MM salary was fully guaranteed. Now, he’ll spend that one year on injured reserve in the hopes of getting healthy for 2015’s free agent period.
Solomon, a former seventh-round pick by the Titans, wasn’t expected to play a significant role on the Buccaneers’ defensive line, though he did see 31 defensive snaps in the team’s opener, logging three tackles.
In addition to tweaking their 53-man roster, the Buccaneers filled the 10th and final opening on their practice squad by adding defensive end Adrian Robinson, according to Smith (via Twitter).
The one-year deal Michael Vick inked with the Jets is worth a guaranteed $4MM, including a $2MM signing bonus and $2MM guaranteed base salary, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. The contract was originally reported as a $5MM pact, so perhaps there are incentives related to playing time or performance.
Here are several more contract details from around the NFL:
The Buccaneers have reached an agreement on a contract with Mike Jenkins, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the free agent defensive back will sign a one-year deal. Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that the agreement, which has now been confirmed by the Bucs, will be worth $1.5MM, with another $500K available via incentives.
Most of the reported interest Jenkins received this week came from the Cardinals and Buccaneers, so it makes sense that he’d land in Tampa after the Cards agreed to terms with Antonio Cromartie. Jenkins, a longtime Cowboy, spent last season in Oakland, starting 15 games for the Raiders and piling up 65 tackles to go with a pair of interceptions.
Jenkins ranked in the middle of the pack among cornerbacks last season, according to Pro Football Focus’ metrics, due to a subpar grade in pass coverage, but the Bucs may view him as a good fit for their defensive scheme under new head coach Lovie Smith. The team has also added cornerback Alterraun Verner since free agency opened, parting ways with Darrelle Revis.
We heard earlier in the week that wide receiver Lance Moore would visit the Steelers today, but it sounds like that meeting will happen tomorrow instead, according to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter). Here’s more on a few free agents looking for jobs:
Let’s follow up this morning’s summary of the latest free agent rumors with another round for the early afternoon: