HEADLINES

Robert Alford

NFC West Rumors: Rams, Seahawks, Wilson, Cardinals

June 25th, 2022 at 9:00pm CST by Ely Allen

The Rams’ celebration period for their Super Bowl LVI victory over the Bengals has wound down, and it’s time for Los Angeles to start gearing up for a potential repeat. There’s a bit of work to do on the offensive line with the retirement of left tackle Andrew Whitworth and the departure of right guard Austin Corbett in free agency.

According to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, the Rams have long hoped that 2018 third-round pick Joseph Noteboom would eventually be prepared to fill in when Whitworth finally hung up his cleats. He’ll likely get that opportunity this season. Barshop also mentions that head coach Sean McVay said during minicamp that a competition will take place for the vacant right guard spot. Bobby Evans has been penciled into that starting role since Corbett left for Carolina, but the Rams were reportedly ecstatic to land Wisconsin guard Logan Bruss in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Expect Bruss to push Evans for the starting right guard job this summer.

Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC West, starting with a note out of last year’s fourth-place team in the division:

  • Ten years ago, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll relied on preseason games to determine the quarterback competition between Russell Wilson and Matt Flynn. According to Brady Henderson of ESPN, Carroll will stick to his guns and use preseason game-tape as a heavy factor in determining if Geno Smith or trade-acquisition Drew Lock will start Week 1, when Wilson returns to Lumen Field. Carroll has claimed that the team is in “good shape” with its current quarterback room that rosters Smith, Lock, and Jacob Eason.
  • Cardinals cornerback Marco Wilson turned heads last summer in Arizona and surprised many when he was named a starter alongside Byron Murphy Jr. over veteran free agent addition Robert Alford. After six strong years in Atlanta (five as a full-time starter), Alford was expected to serve as the starting cornerback opposite Murphy while Wilson matured as a rookie at the NFL level. After a pectoral injury ended his season on injured reserve, the Cardinals allowed Alford to hit free agency. There’s still a chance Arizona brings back the 33-year-old, but, even if they do, Cardinals staff writer Darren Urban expects Wilson to retain his starting job opposite Murphy.
  • The Cardinals announced some promotions in their scouting staff last week. After spending the last three seasons as the team’s Western regional scout, Josh Scobey has been promoted to director of college scouting going into his 11th season in Arizona. Glen Fox will similarly spend his 10th season with the Cardinals as their director of pro personnel after being promoted from pro scout. Another nine-year Cardinal staffer, John Mancini will spend his 10th season as a national scout after serving previously as an area scout. Zac Canty will become the team’s Central regional scout in his 11th season with the team. Rounding out the organization’s impressive show of longevity, Ryan Gold has been made assistant director of college scouting after eight years with the team in different scouting roles, most recently college scouting coordinator. Lastly, former scouting assistant Alex Valles has been made an area scout for the Cardinals.

Cardinals Discussing Reunion With Robert Alford, Eyeing Veteran CBs

June 7th, 2022 at 2:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following Jeff Gladney‘s tragic death last week, the Cardinals have a glaring need at cornerback. They had signed Gladney in March, going ahead with a second chance for the former Vikings first-round pick. But Gladney and his girlfriend died in a car accident May 30.

Byron Murphy remains the Cardinals’ top cornerback, but uncertainty surrounds the versatile cover man. The circumstances have moved the Cardinals toward a familiar face. Kliff Kingsbury said Tuesday (via SI.com’s Howard Balzer) the team has been in contact with Robert Alford, who played for the Cardinals last season after missing two full years due to injury.

Alford is 33, however, and missed four games last season after his two-year absence. The Cardinals hosted the veteran defender in March, doing so not long after signing Gladney. Circling back to Alford would be reasonable, given his familiarity with Vance Joseph‘s scheme, though there are several available corners who would be upgrades on what Arizona rosters now.

“That’s a tragic situation and we understand that, but we’re always trying to improve our roster,” Kingsbury said of the Cards’ cornerback circumstances. “And that’s a position that we’d like to bring in a few more veteran players that we could before training camp, and so we’ll see what’s out there in the next couple of weeks.

“… We’ve been in contact with Rob and we’ll just kind of see how that plays out.”

The Falcons drafted Alford in the 2013 second round and used him as a 76-game starter. Alford, whose pick-six in Super Bowl LI gave Atlanta a 21-0 second-quarter lead, signed a four-year, $38MM extension during that 2016 season. After the Falcons made Alford a cap casualty in 2019, the Cardinals signed him. But a broken leg and torn pectoral muscle, respectively, sidelined him for the 2019 and ’20 seasons. He started five Cards games last season, intercepted a pass and fared much better in coverage than he did in 2018. Passers compiled a collective 81.7 rating with Alford as the closest defender last season — a far superior mark to the 138.5 figure Alford allowed in 2018.

With Murphy absent at Cardinals OTAs Tuesday, Jace Whittaker frequently joined 2021 starter Marco Wilson with the first unit, Balzer adds. It would be stunning if the Cards did not add at least one vet here. The likes of Jackrabbit Jenkins, Kevin King, Joe Haden, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes lead the group of outside coverage players available. An Alford Arizona return might be accompanied by an agreement with a member of this quintet. Either way, Gladney’s death will force the Cardinals to act at cornerback.

Cardinals Host CB Robert Alford

March 24th, 2022 at 5:31pm CST by Ben Levine

After spending the past few years in Arizona, Robert Alford is considering re-signing with the organization. According to Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter), the cornerback visited the Cardinals today.

Alford originally inked a three-year, $22.5MM deal with the Cardinals back in 2019, but he missed his first year with the organization thanks to a broken leg. A torn pectoral also knocked him out for the entirety of the 2020 season, and the Cardinals ended up cutting him last March.

He re-signed with the organization two days later, and he finally made his debut with the team during the 2021 season. He ultimately got into 13 games (five starts) this past season, collecting 37 tackles, four passes defended, and one interception.

The 2013 second-round pick spent the first six seasons of his career with the Falcons, starting 76 of his 88 games while picking off 10 passes.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/18/21

December 18th, 2021 at 1:29pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/3/21

September 3rd, 2021 at 3:34pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: WR Deon Cain

Houston Texans

New York Jets

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: WR Jamison Crowder; Crowder contracted the coronavirus, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/26/21

August 26th, 2021 at 4:27pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFC West Notes: 49ers, Alford, Hekker

June 13th, 2021 at 9:27pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The 49ers have drawn the ire of the league office. The NFL docked San Francisco the “last week of their rookie development program for a violation of offseason work rules,” sources told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). Pelissero reports that the team’s infraction took place during their rookie minicamp. As for what that infraction was, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports tweets the punishment stems “from minimal contact that appeared on a social media video when contact was prohibited during rookie camp.”

Sounds pretty minor. Maiocco adds that the now-scrapped last week of their rookie development program “was to consist of non-football and life skills,” so it’s doubtful that 49ers brass is going to lose too much sleep over it.

Here are a couple other nuggets from around the NFC West on a quiet Sunday night:

  • Cornerback Robert Alford has dealt with a lot of adversity the past couple seasons. Alford signed a three-year, $22.5MM deal with the Cardinals in 2019, but has yet to play a down for the team. He missed all of 2019 with a broken leg, and all of 2020 with a torn pec. He was unsurprisingly released this offseason, but quickly re-signed on a one-year deal. As it turns out that new deal is for the veteran’s minimum, as Darren Urban of the team’s official site writes. It also turns out Alford never had any intention of leaving. “He basically told us ‘Hey I want to come back, I owe you guys, so I’ll come back for whatever deal because I owe the organization, I owe the Cardinals and want to prove y’all were right about me,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said, who added “we respect that a ton.” It sounds like Alford is going to be playing with a chip on his shoulder, and here’s to hoping he can stay healthy in 2021. The 32-year-old was a quality starter in Atlanta before the injuries derailed his career in the desert.
  • Punter Johnny Hekker is the longest-tenured member of the Rams. He’s a fan-favorite, leader in the locker room, and four-time first-team All-Pro. And even his job isn’t safe. In a testament to the ‘easy come easy go’ nature of the NFL, Hekker now has some real competition in Rams camp. The Oregon State product is coming off a season where he had a career-low yards per punt average and is the highest-paid punter in the league with a cap number of $4.9MM this year, as Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times writes. Speaking to the media recently, Hekker was frank about his status. “I definitely did not perform to the best of my abilities,” last season, he stated plainly. Although Sean McVay has denied the team is looking to move on from Hekker, the veteran said he’s treating recently-signed Corey Bojorquez as serious competition and operating as if he’s fighting for his job. He also added that “there’s no running around the financial aspect of it.” This will be a situation to keep an eye on this summer.

Cardinals Re-Sign Robert Alford

March 12th, 2021 at 10:24am CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals are bringing back Robert Alford (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Alford was released by the team earlier this week, but he’s agreed to return on a cheaper contract. 

Alford signed a three-year, $22.5MM deal with the Cardinals in 2019, but never suited up for them. First, he fractured a tibia in August of 2019, leaving him on injured reserve for the season. Then, in August of 2020, he suffered a season-ending pec tear. As Rapoport says, he has “unfinished business” in the desert.

Alford entered the league as a second-round pick of the Falcons in 2013 and spent his first six pro seasons with Atlanta. The 32-year-old (33 in October) is now a few years removed from his best work. Alford started 15 games in 2018 but it the worst campaign of his pro career. Pro Football Focus graded him as a bottom-10 cornerback league-wide that year. He also ranked dead last in Football Outsiders’ yards per pass allowed and success rate in 2018.

Cardinals Release CB Robert Alford

March 10th, 2021 at 4:55pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Robert Alford‘s Cardinals tenure has come to an unceremonious end. Arizona has released the veteran cornerback, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Alford signed a three-year, $22.5MM deal with the Cardinals in 2019, but will end his stint in the desert never having played in a game for them. He fractured a tibia in August of 2019 that cost him all of that season, and then tore a pec this past August which knocked him out for all of 2020. A second-round pick of Atlanta back in 2013, Alford spent the first six years of his career with the Falcons.

He was pretty durable during those years, playing at least 15 games in all but one season (10 in 2014). Unfortunately the injury bug has bit him hard, and he hasn’t suited up since the 2018 season when he started 15 games for the Falcons. A quality starter for a while, it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll look like now.

Alford turned 32 in November, and will likely struggle to find guaranteed money in a tough market coming off back to back season-ending injuries.

The release saves the Cardinals about $7.5MM in cap space for this season. As Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com points out in a tweet, this leaves the Cards with only one non-reserve/futures cornerback under contract for next season, 2019 second-rounder Byron Murphy.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/21/20

August 21st, 2020 at 2:39pm CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

  • Placed on IR: TE Darion Clark

Indianapolis Colts

  • Claimed (from Panthers): TE Andrew Vollert

New York Jets

  • Signed: S Anthony Cioffi

Pittsburgh Steelers

Load More Posts