Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim: Max Starks adds valuable depth
Aug 4, 2014, 5:21 PM | Updated: Aug 5, 2014, 12:47 am
The Arizona Cardinals have newfound depth at a needed position — offensive tackle — after signing veteran Max Starks, according to general manager Steve Keim.
“Any time you can turn the back end of the roster and continue to add valuable depth, we’re going to take a look at it,” Keim told Doug and Wolf Monday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “We’ve looked at some of the young guys at that same position on our roster. We know what those guys are.”
The transaction spelled the end of Cory Brandon’s tenure with the Cardinals and put Bradley Sowell, who was competing for the starting position, further down the team’s depth chart.
Starks, listed at 6-foot-8 and 346 pounds, is entering his 11th season in the NFL. Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was on the Pittsburgh Steelers staff for eight seasons when Starks was with the team.
He plays both left and right tackle, pressing positions entering the offseason for the Cardinals considering neither opening starter from 2013 is back with the team in 2014.
Keim said that during Starks’ workout with the Cardinals, he looked like he was “in the best shape of his life.”
But even Keim doesn’t know how Starks will contribute with the team. He was cut by the San Diego Chargers last August and appeared in just two games with the St. Louis Rams following a season in which he started 16 games at left tackle.
“We’ll see in the next couple of weeks how much gas Max has left in the tank.”
