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Rodney Gunter

Jaguars DE Rodney Gunter Stepping Away From Football

August 17th, 2020 at 5:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Rodney Gunter is calling it a career, at least temporarily. The Jaguars defensive end revealed last night that he’s stepping away from football at the advice of doctors. In a procedural move, the Jaguars placed Gunter on the reserve/retired list.

In a statement, Gunter explained that he was diagnosed with a severe heart condition, and he could have ruptured his aorta is he continued his football career. Surgery could eventually remedy the issue, and that would theoretically allow him to return to the football field. However, the 28-year-old currently doesn’t meet the specific criteria for the procedure, so he’s understandably stepping away from football as he awaits his next steps.

On Monday, head coach Doug Marrone praised the player’s offseason work ethic, and he revealed that he offered Gunter a staff position with the purpose of keeping him around the team.

“These are the things that are very difficult,” Marrone said. “Things come up that are out of your control and take away things that you love and want to do…It’s just an awful feeling. It really is. It’s just tough.”

The 2015 fourth-round pick had spent the first five seasons of his career with the Cardinals, including a 2019 campaign where he finished with 31 tackles and three sacks in 13 games. He signed a three-year, $18MM deal with Jacksonville this past offseason, and he was expected to replace traded defensive lineman Calais Campbell.

Now, Jacksonville will be scrambling to figure out their defensive line depth, especially with defensive end Yannick Ngakoue avoiding camp. As ESPN’s Michael DiRocco notes, the team’s already seen nose tackle Al Woods and defensive end Lerentee McCray opt out of the upcoming season, while defensive tackles Dontavius Russell and Brian Price were placed on IR.

AFC Contract Details: Bulaga, Cobb, Collins

March 22nd, 2020 at 8:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the latest contract details as of Sunday night. We will focus on the AFC here.

  • Bryan Bulaga, T (Chargers): Three years, $30MM. $19.25MM guaranteed; $10MM signing bonus. Bulaga’s salaries in 2020 ($1.5MM) and 2021 ($7.75MM) are guaranteed. A $2.5MM roster bonus is due on Day 3 of the 2022 league year, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • Randall Cobb, WR (Texans): Three years, $27MM. $18MM guaranteed; $6MM signing bonus. Base salaries in 2020 ($3.75MM) and ’21 ($8.25MM) are guaranteed; non-guaranteed salary of $7.9MM in 2022. Wilson notes (on Twitter).
  • Rodney Gunter, DL (Jaguars): Three years, $18MM. $11.15MM guaranteed; $4.25MM signing bonus. 2020 and ’21 base salaries of $2MM and $4.9MM are guaranteed. Non-guaranteed 2022 base of $5.4MM, per Wilson (on Twitter).
  • Vic Beasley, OLB (Titans): One year, $9.5MM. The $9.5MM is guaranteed and includes a $6MM signing bonus. $2.5MM worth of sack-based incentives exist in the deal, Wilson adds (on Twitter).
  • Maliek Collins, DT (Raiders): One year, $6MM. $5.75MM guaranteed. Deal includes a $1.5MM sack-based incentive, Wilson tweets.
  • De’Vante Bausby, CB (Broncos): One year, $825K. The deal contains no guaranteed money, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.

Jaguars Sign DL Rodney Gunter

March 18th, 2020 at 6:04pm CST by Ben Levine

Rodney Gunter is signing with the Jaguars, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). It’s a three-year for the defensive lineman.

The 2015 fourth-round pick had spent his entire career with the Cardinals, including a 2019 campaign where he started a career-high 13 games. The 28-year-old has compiled 11 sacks through five seasons in the NFL, including 7.5 over the past two years.

The Jaguars have been busy revamping their defense over the past few days. The front office spent big money to get linebacker Joe Schobert to Jacksonville, and they also signed cornerback Darqueze Dennard.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/10/19

December 10th, 2019 at 6:37pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Dallas Cowboys

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Promoted: WR Ishmael Hyman

Washington Redskins

Interestingly Dallas’ hand was forced with Hyatt, as they promoted the offensive lineman because another team was trying to poach him away, a source told Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). He’s a rookie UDFA from Clemson. Elsewhere, the Dolphins are scooping up players from other teams left and right as they build for 2020.

Cardinals Re-Sign DL Rodney Gunter

April 8th, 2019 at 8:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

Rodney Gunter will be in line to remain a part of the Cardinals’ defensive line rotation, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeting Gunter agreed to a deal to stay in Arizona.

The Packers hosted Gunter on a visit last week, but he will stick around with the Cardinals instead. Kliff Kingsbury will be the third Cardinals coach Gunter has played for since being drafted in the 2015 fourth round.

Arizona has been active in free agency, but beyond the Larry Fitzgerald pact, the Cards mostly have signed outside free agents, defensive line addition Darius Philon among them. Gunter will return as a cog in a 3-4 defense, a role he played for three years under Bruce Arians.

After spending his first three seasons in a reserve role, he appeared in all 16 games last year, making 10 starts and turning in career highs in sacks (4.5) and tackles (44). Gunter finished out with a respectable 70.1 overall score from Pro Football Focus, placing him 59th out of 112 qualified interior defenders.

The Cardinals also signed two recent AAF offensive lineman in Andrew Lauderdale and Jeremiah Poutasi, a 2015 third-round pick. Lauderdale played for the Arizona Hotshots, while Poutasi — a former Titan and Jaguar — suited up for the Salt Lake City Stallions. Poutasi has not played in a regular-season NFL game since 2016. Lauderdale has yet to play in a regular-season contest.

Packers Meet With Rodney Gunter

April 3rd, 2019 at 3:22pm CST by Zachary Links

Cardinals free agent defensive tackle Rodney Gunter is visiting today with the Packers, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The Cardinals had a down year in 2018, but Gunter did well on an individual level.

Gunter, 27, entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the Cardinals. After spending his first three seasons in a reserve role, he appeared in all 16 games last year with ten starts and turned in career highs in sacks (4.5) and tackles (44). Gunter finished out with a respectable 70.1 overall score from Pro Football Focus, placing him 59th out of 112 qualified interior defenders.

Gunter could step in as a replacement for Muhammad Wilkerson, who continues to float in free agent limbo. If signed, he could also be a future fill-in for the likes of Kenny Clark and Mike Daniels. If Clark’s fifth-year option is not picked up in early May, he’ll be eligible for free agency after the ’19 season. Daniels, who was one spot ahead of Gunter on PFF’s rankings, is set to hit the open market next March.

Cards Sign Markus Golden, Rodney Gunter

May 13th, 2015 at 4:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cardinals have two more draft picks under contract, having signed second-round outside linebacker Markus Golden and fourth-round defensive lineman Rodney Gunter to their rookie deals today, according to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (Twitter link).

Urban notes that the moves leave three Cardinals draftees unsigned, tweeting that the contract for seventh-rounder Gerald Christian isn’t officially in the books yet. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reported earlier today that Christian’s deal was done, so perhaps 2015’s “Mr. Irrelevant” has agreed to terms but not yet put pen to paper.

As for Golden and Gunter, Over the Cap’s data shows that the duo will be in line for respective signing bonuses worth about $1.11MM and $510K. For 2015, the Cardinals will have Golden and Gunter on their books for modest cap hits of approximately $712K and $562K, respectively.

Besides Christian, first-round tackle D.J. Humphries and third-round running back David Johnson have yet to formally sign their rookie contracts for the Cardinals.

NFC Notes: Eagles, Robinson, Cards, Vikes

May 2nd, 2015 at 7:32pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Though the draft is over, the Eagles want to add more players, according to head coach Chip Kelly, who says the club want to bring in more offensive lineman and a tight end to replace James Casey (Twitter link via Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com). Philadelphia could look to add UDFAs and/or veteran free agents in the coming weeks.

Let’s look at some more notes from the NFC:

  • Offensive tackle Corey Robinson says the Ravens, Dolphins, and Washington all called him with interest in signing him as a UDFA before he was chosen by the Lions, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • Cardinals GM Steve Keim said he traded up for defensive lineman Rodney Gunter because he thought another team would take Gunter soon, tweets Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. That mystery team’s GM later confirmed to Keim that he would have selected Gunter had he been available, adds Urban.
  • Guard Joe Berger was the only free agent whom the Vikings had interest in retaining, Vikes GM Rick Speilman tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Berger did end up being the only Minnesota FA to stick around, inking a two-year deal. (The Vikings also re-signed defensive tackle Tom Johnson and long snapper Cullen Loeffler, but both technically signed before the start of free agency).
  • The 49ers drafted Blake Bell as a tight end, but the club thinks the former college quarterback could serve as an emergency QB in the NFL, per Matt Barrows of the San Francisco Bee (Twitter link), who adds that the presence of Bell could affect San Francisco’s roster construction.

NFC West Notes: Wilson, Irvin, Lee, Gunter

May 2nd, 2015 at 3:36pm CST by Rob DiRe

Contract talks between the Seahawks and Russell Wilson are going “a little slow,” according to head coach Pete Carroll, reports Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). They are talking, but are not progressing as fast as the two sides would like. Condotta writes that Adam Schefter of ESPN followed that news up by reporting that Wilson is looking for guaranteed money of a quarterback while the Seahawks are trying to sign him for less (via Twitter).

Here are some other notes from around the NFC West:

  • Condotta also points out that while Carroll says nothing is final about a possible extension for former first-round pick Bruce Irvin, but also says nothing to a report that the Seahawks would like to trade the young linebacker (via Twitter).
  • The 49ers have not asked punter Andy Lee to take a pay cut, but drafting Clemson punter Bradley Pinion in the fifth-round certainly puts his future with the team in question, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). Cole notes that Lee is scheduled to make $2.05MM in base salary in 2015, suggesting the team could look to save some money at that position on the roster.
  • The Cardinals felt forced to trade up in the fourth round to select Delaware State’s Rodney Gunter, as they were convinced that another team drafting in that area was going to take their coveted defensive line prospect, according to Kent Somers of AZCentral.com (via Twitter).
  • After drafting Missouri receiver Bud Sasser in the sixth round, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes Rams have now gone with an offensive player in all six of their selections in the 2015 NFL Draft (via Twitter). They have taken three offensive linemen, a quarterback, and a running back to go along with Sasser so far, in hopes of building up an offense that has been far behind their stout defense the past few seasons. The last defensive player they have chosen was Michael Sam in the seventh round last year.

Cardinals Acquire No. 116 Pick From Browns

May 2nd, 2015 at 11:53am CST by Ben Levine

After having taken Northwestern safety Ibraheim Campbell at pick No. 115, the Browns have traded their next selection. According to Nate Ulrich of Ohio.com (via Twitter), the Cardinals have acquired pick No. 116 from Cleveland. In return, the Browns will get a fourth-rounder (No. 123), sixth-rounder (No. 198) and seventh-rounder (No. 241), according to ESPN.com’s Pat McManamon on Twitter.

With the pick, Arizona will select Delaware State defensive end Rodney Gunter, according to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (on Twitter). He finished last season with 57 tackles and seven sacks.

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