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The Cardinals may not have a ton of cap room this offseason – here are six players that could help and not cost a ton of cap space.
The Arizona Cardinals enter the NFL offseason without a lot of money to spend on free agency. They do not have that much cap space. That could change with a few moves, but those may or may not happen, and there are a few holes the Cardinals could look to fill.
Since they might not be able to target many higher-priced free agents, here are some potentially less expensive free agents they could target next month.
The 49ers placed Ben Garland on Injured Reserve as part of a trio of roster moves.
The 49ers on Tuesday made a trio of roster moves prior to the start of their Week 7 practices. Cornerback Parnell Motley was added to the roster. Center Ben Garland was placed on Injured Reserve with a calf injury and tight end Daniel Helm was waived.
San Francisco claimed Motley off waivers from the Buccaneers prior to Week 6. He was an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma who saw action in two games for Tampa Bay as a special teams player. He cleared COVID-19 protocol and was allowed to officially join the 53-man roster.
Garland hurt his calf near the end of the 49ers’ Week 6 win over the Rams. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday indicated Garland’s injury would land him on IR. The club made that move official and he’ll be out at least three weeks.
Helm was added after Jordan Reed went down with a knee injury, but only saw action in one game. That could be an indication the club intends to get Reed back soon, or it may mean another roster move is coming with a spot now open.
Brandon Aiyuk, the No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 NFL. draft will debut for the San Francisco 49ers vs. the New York Jets.
The 49ers will officially have center Ben Garland and rookie wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk for their Week 2 showdown against the New York Jets. Both players missed the season opener, but practiced all week and are active in New York as the 49ers aim to bounce back from a season-opening defeat.
Here’s the full list of inactives:
TE George Kittle
QB CJ Beathard
DE Dee Ford
LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
CB Jason Verrett
OL Tom Compton
There weren’t any surprises in this group. Kittle was ruled out on Friday with a knee sprain. Ford on Saturday was downgraded from ‘questionable’ to ‘out’ due to a neck injury. Verrett was also ruled out Friday with a hamstring ailment.
A minor surprise inactive is Compton, who wasn’t very good in camp according to reports from Santa Clara. Center Hroniss Grasu, who started in place of Garland last week, is up off the practice squad and active in his place. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Grasu take over long-term for Compton because of his positional versatility and a good showing in the season opener.
Here is the Jets list of inactives:
QB James Morgan
QB Joe Flacco
WR Jamison Crowder
DL Bryce Huff
DL Jordan Willis
CB Nate Hairston
The 49ers had Brandon Aiyuk and Ben Garland in full practices for the first time all season.
The 49ers got a little good news to start the second week of their regular season. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and center Ben Garland missed the season opener, but were full participants in Wednesday’s practice according to the team’s practice report. Tight end George Kittle was out Wednesday, and will be out all week according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. That does not rule Kittle out for the team’s Week 2 matchup with the Jets in New York.
Aiyuk was limited on Thursday and Friday last week with a hamstring injury. Garland was limited all week with an ankle injury. Both players were hurt in camp and wanted to play Sunday, per Kyle Shanahan, and it looks like they’re both on track to play vs. New York.
Here’s the full practice report for Wednesday:
Did not participate
WR Richie James (hamstring)
TE George Kittle (knee)
CB Jason Verrett (hamstring)
CB Ahkello Witherspoon (concussion)
James injures his hamstring in Sunday’s game vs. the Cardinals and could be candidate for Injured Reserve according to NFL insider Adam Caplan on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco.
Verrett missed all of last week with a hamstring injury, and there’s no indication that his return is imminent. Another missed session Wednesday isn’t great sign for his prospects of returning in New York. However, if he does practice this week it would open the door for him playing in the second game.
The announcement of Witherspoon going into concussion protocol came as a surprise. He played only four defensive snaps Sunday and at some point in those plays wound up with a concussion. His status for Sunday is up in the air because he’ll need to pass concussion protocol before being allowed back into action.
Getting Aiyuk and Garland back will be a huge help for San Francisco though. They desperately need a playmaker like Aiyuk back in their banged up receiving corps, and Garland will give them better continuity on the offensive line after a disjointed showing Sunday.
The 49ers won’t have Ben Garland or Brandon Aiyuk vs. the Arizona Cardinals.
The 49ers will play Week 1 of the 2020 season extremely shorthanded. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and center Ben Garland were both among the team’s six inactive players for Sunday’s matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
Here’s the full list of inactives:
QB CJ Beathard
WR Brandon Aiyuk
C Ben Garland
CB Jason Verrett
LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
DL Kentavius Street
Aiyuk is dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice Wednesday and limited him Thursday and Friday. Garland suffered an ankle injury in camp that limited him in practice all week. They were officially listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report, and now they’ve been ruled out.
The team has worked with injuries conservatively, and it appears they’re sacrificing one week of action for the long-term benefit of both players.
Hroniss Grasu will suit up in Garland’s stead, although there’s been no announcement of who will start along the offensive line. San Francisco won’t have an additional wide receiver, so Dante Pettis, Kendrick Bourne, Trent Taylor and Richie James Jr. will be the team’s wide receivers vs. Arizona.
Here are the Cardinals’ inactives:
RB Eno Benjamin
QB Brett Hundley
OL Josh Jones
OL Josh Miles
S Deionte Thompson
San Francisco 49ers WR Deebo Samuel was listed as “out” on the injury report.
The 49ers won’t have wide receiver Deebo Samuel for their season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. He was officially listed as “out” on the team’s Friday injury report. Samuel didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, and was out again Friday which put the writing on the wall that he wouldn’t be available Sunday. The injury report made that official.
Any optimism the team had about the second-year receiver’s availability for Week 1 was always guarded. Playing in Week 1 would’ve put him on the front end of the reported 12-16 week timeline on the Jones fracture he sustained in June. San Francisco’s training staff typically handles injuries pretty conservatively. They weren’t going to risk losing Samuel for an extended period by forcing him into the lineup to start the season.
Samuel was taken off the Non-Football Injury list before the season though, so the team has to be optimistic that he can return within the first couple weeks.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is officially listed as “questionable” with a hamstring injury after a pair of limited practices to wrap up the week. Center Ben Garland is in the same spot while he works through an ankle injury. We likely won’t know their statuses until Sunday just before kickoff.
Here’s the full injury report:
Out
WR Deebo Samuel (foot)
CB Jason Verrett (hamstring)
Questionable
C Ben Garland (ankle)
WR Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring)
WRs Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel both missed Wednesday’s practice for the 49ers.
The 49ers on Wednesday released their first official injury report of the season. While there was some optimism it may return some good news on wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, they both remained out with a hamstring and foot injury, respectively. Center Ben Garland did return in a limited fashion.
Here’s what Wednesday’s injury report looked like:
Did not participate
WR Deebo Samuel (foot)
WR Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring)
CB Jason Verrett (hamstring)
Limited participation
C Ben Garland
It’s not a huge surprise that Samuel and Aiyuk are still out. While their absence Wednesday isn’t a positive development for their chances to play in Sunday’s season opener, it’s doesn’t rule them out.
Foot and hamstring injuries are both the type of ailment the 49ers will be conservative with in hopes of limiting the likelihood of re-aggravating those injuries. They could opt to hold them out of Week 1 and opt to wait until each player is at 100 percent before putting them back on the field.
Garland hurt his ankle in camp while filling in for starting center Weston Richburg who’s still on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Even limited participation for him Wednesday is good news for the 49ers’ offensive line. Garland is a quality starter who’s absence could throw their shallow interior offensive line into flux. Getting some action in Wednesday doesn’t guarantee he’ll play Sunday, so this will be worth monitoring closely moving forward.
Verrett’s absence isn’t a shock given that he hurt his hamstring after training camp. The team may opt to keep him inactive on game day until he’s fully healed and able to contribute at full speed.
The San Francisco 49ers depth chart has a couple question marks at center and right guard heading into Week 1 of the regular season.
The starting right guard spot was one of the biggest question marks for the 49ers heading into camp. With less than two weeks until the regular-season opener though, their questions are further from being answered than they were when training camp kicked off.
Center Ben Garland, who was starting in place of Weston Richburg while he works through a knee injury he suffered late last season, hurt his ankle in camp – leaving his status uncertain for Week 1. That leaves two spots open on the offensive front, and each of the players competing at right guard are also competing at center.
The result is a mix-and-match situation that Kyle Shanahan still hasn’t sifted through yet to make a decision. He told reporters following Wednesday’s practice that he’s still figuring out the best combination of players on the interior.
“We don’t know the health of Garland yet, how he’s going to be next week and how that’s going to go for both the positions. So, it’s kind of a nice situation for me because we know that we had a competition to see who is our starting right guard,” Shanahan said. “And it’s kind of been hard to have a true just starting competition at right guard when both of those guys have got to be playing center and the possibility of starting at center and what gives you your best combination for Week 1. So, all that’s going into play, which makes it to where I wouldn’t want to give you the answer, but I truly don’t know the answer anyways because of the situation. I know Garland is not going to be trying to come back until next week and we’re going to have to play that out, see how it goes and see what the best line up is.”
Tom Compton and Daniel Brunskill were rotating in at right guard when Garland was healthy, and now one will play right guard and the other will play center if Garland can’t go.
One issue that arises is whether one is better at both spots. The 49ers would then have to decide whether they wanted to have four starters and a reserve center, or a better reserve center, but a worse starting right guard who goes to the bench once Garland returns.
It’s not a good problem, but the 49ers are well-equipped to handle it thanks to a host of versatile interior offensive linemen. The bigger key will be whether they can be healthy for the playoff push late in the year with an entire starting offensive line intact. For now, it remains a question, and the team’s early success could rely heavily on how well they’re able to find the right solution.
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Arik Armstead is back, but K’Waun Williams and Ben Garland remain out of 49ers training camp.
The 49ers injury woes in training camp continued Thursday, but came with a bit of good news.
Defensive lineman Arik Armstead is back on the field according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Armstead was working through a back issue and missed the first four padded practices. He led the team in sacks last season and his versatility along the defensive line makes him a key player for San Francisco’s defense. Having him fully healthy will be a priority going into the year.
While Armstead made his return, cornerback K’Waun Williams and center Ben Garland remained out per the Athletic’s Matt Barrows.
Williams is dealing with a calf injury that is expected to sideline him for two-to-three weeks. That should put him on track to return for Week 1 though.
Garland is nursing an ankle injury that’s expected to keep him out a couple weeks according to general manager John Lynch. He took over the starting center job last year when Weston Richburg went down with a knee injury and looks to be in line to begin the year in the same role with Richburg still rehabbing his knee. The 49ers added free agent center Hroniss Grasu to fill in with Garland sidelined.
Barrows also noted tight end Jordan Reed is still working individually on a side field. Reed is expected to return to full practices soon though after missing all of last season with a concussion.
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The 49ers have a fun roster battle on their hands already.
The 49ers’ list of roster battles during the offseason program and training camp won’t be very long considering they’re returning close to all of their starters on both sides of the ball. One clear position battle is already taking shape along the offensive line.
When San Francisco released right guard Mike Person, it opened up a vacancy on the offensive line with no surefire contingency plan. There’ll be a bona fide battle among several players to win that job.
Perhaps the leading candidate for the starting right guard job, Daniel Brunskill, signed his exclusive rights free agent tender on Friday. The former offensive tackle for the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football found a home last year in Santa Clara when he filled in at tackle and guard during the regular season, and played some center during the preseason. Brunskill is an impressive athlete with good versatility that could wind up earning him his first NFL starting job.
It won’t be easy for Brunskill though. Ben Garland also re-signed in San Francisco on a one-year deal. He’s another versatile lineman who can play all three interior spots, and earned himself a look with his play at center down the stretch last season filling in for Weston Richburg. There’s a chance the team strictly wants Garland to play center, but if he’s their best option at right guard, they wouldn’t hesitate to start him there and figure out a contingency plan for a Richburg injury later.
The 49ers added another candidate for the right guard job shortly after it was reported Person was gone. Tom Compton, a journeyman offensive lineman who’s been with five teams in his career and spent the last four years with four different teams, will also get a shot at the starting right guard job.
It’s also not out of the question that San Francisco uses a relatively early pick on an interior lineman that pushes all the veterans out of the running. This would probably be the ideal scenario. They’d be snagging a young talent for the offensive line, while allowing players like Brunskill, Garland and Compton to serve as high quality depth pieces.
Either way, having so many capable player up front is part of why the 49ers were able to win 13 games despite four of their five offensive line spots missing multiple games last season. If they can improve that depth after losing a starter in the offseason, the 49ers’ offense will be in great shape to have another good year up front.
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