The Arizona Cardinals brought back almost their entire roster of offensive linemen this offseason after the 2019 season, but one player is notably still a free agent. Center A.Q. Shipley has not re-signed with the team and it doesn’t appear it will happen.
“(I’m a) free agent right now,” Shipley said on The Wilderness Footprint podcast. “Probably won’t be back with the Cards. They want to go younger with the young talent they got at quarterback now.”
The Cardinals haven’t closed the door on Shipley’s return. General manager Steve Keim said all options are still open and coach Kliff Kingsbury called it a work in progress.
However, they are very confident in Mason Cole, who competed with Shipley for the starting job a year ago.
Shipley isn’t upset.
“Part of the business. I get it,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of options and opportunities.”
He said that with the COVID-19 pandemic, “we’re waiting a little longer than we normally would wait.”
Shipley, in the meantime, is “just sitting tight, staying in shape, waiting till we kind of get a glimpse or a view of where the season’s going to go.”
He believes it could be a situation like the year of the lockout in 2011 when it came together and players had only a few days to get ready to report.
It should be no surprise the Cardinals are willing to move on, even though Shipley played well and was a leader. They drafted Cole to be their center. They also must believe the depth behind Cole with Lamont Gaillard and Max Garcia is fine as well.
If Shipley is re-signed, it likely would only be a scenario in which the centers on the roster were ineffective in training camp or there were an injury. Shipley could be signed and jump right in.
Other than that, he will end up finishing his career elsewhere.
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Ep. 266
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Ep.265
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