One of the key offseason additions the Arizona Cardinals made to their defense was linebacker Devon Kennard. Kennard signed a three-year contract with the Cardinals after being released by the Detroit Lions.
The Cardinals were given a bit of a heads up before Kennard was released by the Lions.
Kennard grew up in Arizona, attending high school at Desert Vista, and his father, Derek Kennard, played for the Cardinals from 1986-1990.
Derek made a call to the Cardinals’ front office, according to the Arizona Republic’s Bob McManaman.
Derek Kennard was in his car listening to a sports radio station when he got word the Lions were going to release his son the following day, primarily because of salary cap concerns. So, Dad did what any Dad would do with some inside pulls to the local NFL franchise.
He immediately called someone in power within the Cardinals’ organization.
“I said to myself, ‘Hey, the Cardinals better jump on it right away because he won’t be out there very long,’ ” Derek Kennard said. “I called the Cardinals’ office to find out if they had him on their (free-agent) board because the draft was coming up as well, and I said, ‘You guys got an opportunity here and you better jump on him.’
“I won’t tell you who it was, but they told me, ‘We’ve got him on our board and we’re going to get him off the board as soon as possible.’ I was like, ‘Oh crap. OK. You guys are interested. Good.’ They (the Lions) let him go the next day and immediately the Cardinals picked him up and we were as excited as hell.”
Kennard is slated to start at outside linebacker opposite Chandler Jones. He has had seven sacks each of the last two seasons, but he played outside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme, so he played more in space off the ball.
He is a perfect fit schematically. He adds to the hometown Cardinals players on the roster. It turns out the elder Kennard probably didn’t need to make a call to the team, as it sounds like the Cardinals already had him on their radar, but it does create a little bit of history. With the signing of Devon Kennard, it is the third time in team history that both a father and a son have played for the team.
[vertical-gallery id=434799]
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
Ep. 268
[protected-iframe id=”b982993d8c20b3c1204a481770f7fbae-112738498-106269283″ info=”https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/29016811/download.mp3″ ]
Ep. 267
[protected-iframe id=”682ebb6e7ef6b83ea73b8875d2f5241d-112738498-106269283″ info=”https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/27243565/download.mp3″ ]