49ers reportedly signing Cardinals free agent LB Joe Walker
Mar 23, 2020, 12:00 PM
Joe Walker #59 of the Arizona Cardinals reacts after tackling Todd Gurley #30 of the Los Angeles Rams during the first half of a game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The San Francisco 49ers are reportedly adding a free agent linebacker who played for the Arizona Cardinals last year in Joe Walker.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the signing, which he said was for one year.
The signing comes in the week following Arizona bolstering its linebacker position.
With Chandler Jones and Jordan Hicks already in the fold as starters, GM Steve Keim picked up De’Vondre Campbell and Devon Kennard via free agency to start at inside and outside linebacker, respectively.
RELATED STORIES
Walker finished as the starter at inside linebacker last season alongside Hicks. That meant 2017 first-round pick Haason Reddick lost snaps to Walker, who was a seventh-round pick in 2016 and had zero starts in 2018, his first year in Arizona. Reddick moved to outside linebacker midseason.
The 27-year-old Walker played all 16 games and had 11 starts for the Cardinals last season. He had 65 total tackles with one quarterback hit and a forced fumble.
San Francisco also made moves in free agency last week, re-signing defensive lineman Arik Armstead and dealing from that same position, sending DeForest Buckner to Indianapolis for the Colts’ first-round pick.
