Cardinals’ biggest 53-man roster surprises following cutdown deadline

The dust has settled on the Arizona Cardinals’ initial 53-man roster.

And while most of the roster moves were expected, there were still a handful of eyebrow raisers on Sunday, including one that nobody saw coming.

Cardinals’ most surprising 53-man roster moves

A familiar face for Mike LaFleur’s offense

There was a real possibility the Cardinals were going to keep three tight ends on the roster despite the expected usage of 13 personnel under head coach and playcaller Mike LaFleur.

A lot of that had to do with Tip Reiman’s health. An unquestioned piece of Arizona’s offense, Reiman has already been ruled out for at least the first week of action as he continues to work back from a season-ending foot injury.

That left Trey McBride, Elijah Higgins and Teagan Quitoriano as the likely trio of tight ends expected to stick around on the 53-man roster.

Then came the kickoff to Arizona’s 53-man roster moves on Sunday, with the Cardinals trading away a 2028 sixth-round pick for tight end Hunter Long and a 2028 seventh-rounder.

Quitoriano, meanwhile, found himself a part of cuts, while Reiman landed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. He’ll now miss at least the first four games of the year.

Long has plenty of knowledge of LaFleur’s system, having played under the former Rams offensive coordinator from 2023-24, and rounds out the room as Arizona’s primary blocking tight end until Reiman’s return.

Good news for Garrett Williams?

Sean Murphy-Bunting was among the more surprising releases on Sunday after getting run as the starting nickel with Garrett Williams working his way back from a torn Achilles.

He was on the backend of the roster but provided enough versatility and a veteran presence to potentially stick around.

That wasn’t the case on Sunday, though, with yet another one of general manager Monti Ossenfort’s top free agents from 2024 back on the street with little to show from his Cardinals tenure.

Sean-Murphy’s release opened up a spot in the cornerbacks room for Kei’Trel Clark to nab (more on him later). It also might signify where Williams is at health-wise.

If Williams wasn’t expected to be back or at least close to return for Arizona’s Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, there’s a good chance Murphy-Bunting could have stuck around a little longer.

Coming off the physically unable to perform list on Aug. 20, Williams has made steady progress this offseason.

And when he’s on the field, the cornerback is instantly one of Arizona’s best defenders out there.

There’s a lot on Williams’ plate as the nickel and he hasn’t blinked once.

Cardinals make a decision on James Conner

Veteran running back James Conner won’t start the season on the 53-man roster.

Instead, he lands on injured reserve with a designation to return.

After avoiding the active/physically unable to perform list to start training camp, it wasn’t out of the possibility Conner could be ready to go by Week 1 as he worked his way back from a bad season-ending foot injury.

But his absence from 11-on-11 work and other team drills throughout camp and the preseason put that thinking in question.

Still, there was hope Conner’s “return to performance” could happen before Week 1 prep rolled around.

Now, he will have to miss at least the first four weeks of the season.

Jeremiyah Love good to go?

With Conner landing on IR and Arizona deciding against keeping a fourth running back on the initial roster, that could be a sign of where rookie Jeremiyah Love is at in his recovery from a high ankle sprain.

Before roster cuts, Love was already progressing in the right direction for Week 1, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.

The roster moves since, especially trading away Corey Kiner and releasing Evan Hull, fit in line with that thinking.

Love’s availability at practice this week and next — he was seen getting some work in off to the side in Green Bay — will paint a better picture of where the rookie is at.

BJ and EJ on the outs

Now, this wasn’t a complete surprise given what Ojulari put on tape this camp and preseason.

Still, when a 2023 second-rounder gets the boot, it stands out.

The once-projected starting pass rusher just couldn’t find his way back into the mix after working back from a catastrophic knee injury in 2024.

Instead, Eku Leota nabs that last spot in the OLBs room.

Ojulari joins 2024 third-round Elijah Jones as a pair of higher-end draft picks who couldn’t crack the initial 53-man roster this year.

More secondary surprises

There hadn’t been a ton of talk about Kei’Trel Clark this camp and preseason, but it clearly didn’t matter.

A dark horse candidate to round out the cornerbacks room, the 2023 sixth-round pick found his name among the five cornerbacks kept on the initial roster following Sunday’s cutdown deadline.

The Cardinals also decided to keep undrafted rookie safety Wydett Williams Jr.

Earlier this month, Williams was among a group of players who received a temporary restraining order from the Louisiana state court to return to college for another season.

His spot on the roster was already up for debate before that news broke, though he clearly showed enough to earn a spot on the initial roster.

That being said, the injury status of Dadrion “Rabbit” Taylor-Demerson is going to be something to monitor moving forward.

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