Cardinals re-sign QB Desmond Ridder on practice squad, awarded no waiver claims

The Arizona Cardinals held the No. 4 spot in the waiver pickup order but were awarded no claims on waived players after the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Wednesday. But in better news for Arizona, it did avoid losing released quarterback Desmond Ridder, who was unclaimed after his own cut and joined the practice squad.

Ridder landed with the Cardinals via an offseason trade with the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for wide receiver Rondale Moore but appeared to be chasing second-year pro Clayton Tune for the backup quarterback job behind Kyler Murray.

Before the Cardinals’ preseason finale, Ridder hit on 10 of 19 passes for 114 yards.

In Denver against the Broncos on Sunday, he completed 10 of 16 pass attempts for 111 yards, adding 25 yards on two carries.

Arizona released Ridder among its roster cuts to get down to 53 players on Tuesday.

Ridder, a third-round selection by Atlanta in 2022, completed 64% of his passes for 2,836 yards and 12 touchdowns to as many interceptions last season for the Falcons.

For his career, Ridder has started 17 of 19 games played and completed 64% of his passes for 3,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Ridder now remains in Arizona as the third quarterback behind Tune, Arizona’s fifth-round pick in 2023, who appeared sparingly in seven games as a rookie. He completed 12 of 21 passes for 62 yards and two interceptions with no touchdowns last season.

Cardinals linebacker Trevor Nowaske claimed by Lions on waiver wire

Linebacker Trevor Nowaske was the only one of Arizona’s cut players from Tuesday who was claimed. He returns to the Detroit Lions, where he spent most of his rookie season in 2023.

He was waived in December 2023 and claimed by the Cardinals before spending the past offseason in the desert.

In three preseason games, the inside linebacker posted 11 tackles with one for a loss.

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