Arizona Cardinals sign receiver Ted Ginn, Jr.
Mar 13, 2014, 9:35 PM | Updated: 10:45 pm
Bruce Arians finally found his speed.
The Arizona Cardinals have signed receiver Ted Ginn, Jr., formerly of the Carolina Panthers, to a three-year deal.
A former first round pick of the Miami Dolphins’, Ginn caught 36 passes for 556 yards and five touchdowns last season. His average of 15.4 yards per catch would have ranked second on the Cardinals behind only Michael Floyd’s 16.0.
Over the course of seven NFL seasons and with three different teams, Ginn has caught 197 passes for 2,604 yards and 11 scores.
But it’s that speed that the Cardinals coveted. While both Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd were productive and are expected to remain so, neither is what you would consider to be a “burner.”
But Ginn, who has been clocked to run a 4.28 40-yard dash, is exactly that. The ninth overall pick in 2007 out of Ohio State has had problems with drops, but seems to have improved in that area.
The deal for the wideout, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, is worth nearly $10 million.
Ted Ginn’s three-year deal with the #Cardinals is worth $3.25M per year. So three years for $9.75M.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2014
Besides on offense, another area where the 5-foot-11 Ginn will help is on special teams. Ginn’s speed is dangerous in the return game. He averaged 23.8 yards on 25 kick returns last season, whereas Javier Arenas, who held the job for the Cardinals in 2013, averaged 21.4 yards on 23 returns.
