Cardinals sign LBs Jamal Carter, Donald Rutledge to future deals

The Arizona Cardinals added inside linebackers Jamal Carter and Donald Rutledge to futures contracts on Wednesday, the team announced.

Carter has appeared in 28 games since going undrafted out of Miami in 2017. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound linebacker signed with the Denver Broncos out of college and appeared in all 16 games his rookie season under then-Denver head coach Vance Joseph, mostly as a special teams player.

In 2019, Carter appeared in 105 snaps as a linebacker and also was a special teams player for the Atlanta Falcons. He played only one game for Atlanta last season, recording five tackles in 31 snaps.

Carter has 22 total tackles and two passes defensed as a defensive player in his career, which has mostly been spent at safety.

Rutledge, who played safety in college, went undrafted out of Georgia Southern in 2020 and landed with the Indianapolis Colts before he was released at the end of training camp.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound player had stops at The Citadel (2015) and Savannah State (2016-18) prior to his 2019 season at Georgia Southern. Rutledge tallied 214 tackles, 24 passes defensed and five interceptions with two forced fumbles over his entire college career.

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