The Arizona Cardinals found a way to do it. They kept seven wide receivers after slashing the roster to 53 Friday. Lance Long made it as did Sean Morey and Early Doucet.

And what blows me away is that they didn’t have to do anything too radical to get it done (remember, earlier I advocated the idea of cutting Brian St. Pierre).

They cut safety Aaron Francisco; he was a special teams captain last year, but everybody knew he was a liability on the field as a defensive player. Gone too is tight end Leonard Pope, a former third round pick. But he wasn’t a Ken Whisenhunt-drafted tight end, and you got the sense up in Flagstaff that Pope was on the edge.

If you’re looking for headliners, those are the only names I can give you.

Pope was the only tight end to get cut; Stephen Spach, Dominique Byrd and Anthony Becht all made the grade (remember, Ben Patrick is suspended for the first four games and doesn’t count against the 53-man roster until after the suspension when another decision will have to be made).

So, for now, it’s seven wide receivers. We’ll see if it lasts – the Cardinals will scour the waiver wire to see who got let go around the league. And they’ll move to fill their practice squad as well.

But for the last three weeks all we’ve been talking about was which of the three wide-outs was on their way out. Turns out…none.

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