Fight to make Arizona Cardinals’ roster enters its final round
TEMPE, Ariz. — The proverbial bubble will burst for 22 Arizona Cardinals by the end of the week.
Teams must reduce rosters to a league-mandated 53 players by 3:00 p.m. MST Saturday, giving many one final audition to showcase their skills.
“I approach it like any other game,” wide receiver Jaron Brown said of the Cardinals’ preseason finale at Denver Thursday. “I’m just trying to go out there and be the best receiver I can be, a complete receiver and just have a complete game.”
Receiver, tight end, cornerback, safety as well as the offensive line were the positions head coach Bruce Arians identified as having yet to be solidified.
“There’s about four or five spots that are up for grabs still,” he said Tuesday.
Now while this one last game likely won’t be the determining factor in a player’s fate, it will be added to what Arians has often referred to as a player’s résumé: How well they play, how well they practice, how well they study in meetings.
“I don’t necessarily feel like I am fighting (for a roster spot),” cornerback Bryan McCann said. “I understand what’s at stake, but I can’t go out there and try and be some player that I’m not. I got to do what I can do. If it’s good enough to be here, then I will be; and if not, then I won’t.”
And even if a player does survive Saturday, that may not mean they have survived the weekend. Once those final cuts are made, teams will begin to scan the waiver wire.
“That’s the other thing that we can’t put into account because you don’t know who’s going to be on it,” Arians said. “That’s always a tough decision to grab somebody that hasn’t been with you over somebody who has been. There will be two or three guys and I’ll say, ‘Look, you’re here. It could be a practice squad spot by Thursday.'”
