Tag: Dennis Gardeck

Cardinals use 2nd-round RFA tender on LB Dennis Gardeck

Gardeck had seven sacks in 93 defensive snaps and tore his ALC late in the season.

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The Arizona Cardinals are continuing to do work in free agency with their own players. The latest is linebacker and special teams ace Dennis Gardeck, a restricted free agent.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals have used a second-round restricted free agent tender on Gardeck, which all but ensures Gardeck will play at least one more season for the Cardinals.

Gardeck has been with the Cardinals for three seasons after making the roster in 2018 as an undrafted rookie out of Sioux Falls.

He had a big year. After being a Pro Bowl alternate on special teams in 2019, he added another nine special teams tackles in 2020 and made an impact on defense. He played inside linebacker for the first two years of his career but never saw the field on defense. He was moved to outside linebacker and saw limited time with extreme production.

In only 93 defensive snaps, he had seven sacks.

He also tore his ACL late in the season, meaning he will not be able to play until at least midseason. However, this move gives him security and allows the Cardinals to give him at least one more look before signing him to a longer-term deal.

Gardeck is a fan favorite and was a team captain last season.

The second-round tender will pay him nearly $3.4 million in 2021.

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Should the Cardinals tender their 3 restricted free agents?

Dennis Gardeck, Ezekiel Turner and Trent Sherfield, all key special teams players, will be restricted free agents next month.

The Arizona Cardinals have three players who will be restricted free agents next month — linebackers Dennis Gardeck and Ezekiel Turner and receiver Trent Sherfield.

All three made the team as undrafted rookies in 2018 and have been great special teams players in their first three seasons.

Because they are restricted free agents, the Cardinals can elect to control their destiny with a qualifying tender.

By tendering the players, the players can negotiate with other teams but the Cardinals will have the opportunity to match the offer. Depending on the tender, if the Cardinals elect not to match the offer, they can get draft compensation.

According to Over the Cap estimations, placing a first-round tender will pay the player more than $4.7 million and, if a team tries to sign him and the Cardinals refuse, the team that signs him will have to give up a first-round pick. A second-round tender would pay the player nearly $3.8 million and a team signing him would have to give the Cardinals their second-round pick if they chose not to match the offer.

An original-round tender will pay the player more than $2.1 million and the team would give up a draft pick from the round the player was selected originally. That will not apply to any of these players because they were undrafted free agents when they entered the league.

Should the Cardinals use these tenders on Gardeck, Turner and Sherfield like they did last year with kicker Zane Gonzalez?


Cardinals free agent outlook: OLB Dennis Gardeck

A look at his 2020 season and what the chances are that he re-signs with the team in 2021.

One of the Arizona Cardinals’ many free agents this offseason is linebacker Dennis Gardeck. Will he be back in 2021?

Gardeck is a restricted free agent, which means the Cardinals can place a tender offer that allows them to match any offer he might receive from another team. Depending on the tender, if they decline to match the offer, they could receive draft compensation.

A first-round tender would pay Gardeck an estimated $4.8 million in 2021. A second-round tender would pay him an estimated $3.4 million, while an original round tender would pay him an estimated $2.1 next season.

Gardeck had a special season. He was outstanding on special teams and also had a productive year on defense. He played defensive snaps for the first time in his career after moving from inside linebacker to outside linebacker.

In 93 defensive snaps, he had seven sacks, which is unbelievable production.

However, he tore his ACL late in the season and won’t likely be able to play until after midseason in 2021.

So what do the Cardinals do with him?

Of the three restricted free agents the Cardinals have, Gardeck is the one who makes the most financial sense to use a tender on. After all, he does more than just play special teams, and with a limited salary cap, it is hard to pay a special teams player more than $2 million. He offers pass-rushing production in sub packages.

However, the injury complicates things.

That said, even for half a season, using a tender makes sense. If he were to agree to a contract for less than that, say $1.5 million plus incentives that could get him to the $2.1 million or even more, it would be worth it. From his perspective, doing anything but a one-year deal doesn’t make sense, especially if he feels he can prove he can produce as a pass rusher again. That way, becoming an unrestricted free agent next year, he could cash in.

In the end, Gardeck likely will be a priority to keep. He won’t be the top of the list but I expect the Cardinals to tender him because of his defensive upside.

Gardeck’s 2021 return: Likely

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Despite Haason Reddick’s, Dennis Gardeck’s career season’s, Cardinals ranked low in pass rushing

They were fourth in the league in sacks and Hasson Reddick and Dennis Gardeck had career seasons, but PFF only ranks them 21st in the league.

The Arizona Cardinals got little from Chandler Jones in terms of sacks in 2020. He had one in four games and then was lost for the season with a torn biceps. That was a huge blow to the defense and the pass rush.

However, with his injury, it created an opportunity for other players.

Haason Reddick had 12.5 sacks, including 7.5 in the final four games. Dennis Gardeck, getting defensive snaps for the first time in his NFL career, had seven sacks in only 93 snaps.

However, even with this production from two players, the Cardinals rank only in the 20s in Pro Football Focus’ final 2020 rankings for teams’ pass rush.

They are No. 21.

The Cardinals got just over four games from their best pass-rusher, Chandler Jones, before he was knocked out for the remainder of the season with an elbow injury. That’s always going to hurt a team’s pass-rushing unit.

Arizona did get surprisingly efficient play from Haason Reddick off the edge, however. Reddick had 57 career pressures coming into this year, and he came out of this season nearly matching that total in 2020 alone with 55 pressures, including 12.5 NFL sacks. It was a good time for a career year, as Reddick is set to enter free agency this offseason.

The Cardinals actually finished fourth in the NFL with 48 sacks as a team.

Watching the team in 2020, they lacked consistent pressure. They did get sacks and did force fumbles, but there was not consistent pressure to affect the passing game significantly.

Chandler Jones returns, but Reddick, Gardeck and Markus Golden will all be free agents. If they do not bring back any of those players, will Jones’ presence be enough for 2021?

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Special teams unit could look quite different for Cardinals in 2021

Their kickers, punter and seven of their top special teams players are all scheduled to be free agents this offseason.

The Arizona Cardinals have had stability in their special teams unit over the last couple of seasons. That could change this offseason.

Almost all their top special teams players are free agents.

Kicker Zane Gonzalez and punter Andy Lee are scheduled to be free agents. There is question as to whether the Cardinals want Gonzalez back, but his late-season replacement, Mike Nugent, is also a free agent.

Trent Sherfield, Dennis Gardeck, Ezekiel Turner, Chris Banjo, D.J. Foster and Charles Washington, all of whom have been core special teams in almost all their special teams units, are all scheduled to hit free agency.

Sherfield, Gardeck and Turner are restricted free agents. Gardeck is also recovering from a torn ACL.

If you also add Tanner Vallejo, who also will be a free agent, all their field goals, punts and 67 of their special teams tackles this season are all going to be free agents.

Aside from Gonzalez’ struggles last year in the kicking game, special teams has been pretty strong. That might change if they lose too many of these key contributors this offseason.

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Cardinals LB Dennis Gardeck to have ACL surgery

He vows to come back even better.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck had a special season in 2020 that ended sadly. After making plays on special teams and suddenly becoming an efficient pass rusher, finishing the season with seven sacks in only 93 defensive snaps, his season came to an abrupt halt with a knee injury.

He missed the final two games of the season. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury would not elaborate as to the specific nature of the injury or his timetable to return, but Gardeck revealed more on social media on Tuesday. He is having his ACL repaired.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ7np7IFoyf/

His message:

I appreciate all the well wishes, your support doesn’t go unnoticed! The road to recovery begins tomorrow with ACL reconstruction. I’ll be back and better than ever in 2021, believe it!

He apparently is set to undergo surgery on Wednesday and then begin the road to recovery.

It is unfortunate for Gardeck, who is scheduled to be a restricted free agent.

He won’t likely be ready to play until the second half of the 2021 season.

The Cardinals have dealt with this before, though. Receiver Jaron Brown tore his ACL in the season he was set to become a restricted free agent. They signed him to a deal that was roughly equal what the restricted free agent tender would have been.

Gardeck has overcome a lot already in his career. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him come back and be even better.

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Cardinals place Dennis Gardeck on IR, make other roster moves

Mike Nugent is signed to the active roster after Zane Gonzalez is placed on IR earlier in the week.

The Arizona Cardinals announced a number of roster moves on Friday on the eve of their Week 16 game against the San Francisco 49ers. They placed a player on injured reserve, added two players to the roster, elevated one from the practice squad for the game and signed a kicker to the practice squad.


Dennis Gardeck’s career season to end on injured reserve

His knee injury will end his season after seven sacks in only 93 snaps.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck has had a fantastic season but it now comes to an end. After two sacks in Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles to bring his season total to seven in only 93 defensive snaps, he exited the game with a knee injury.

After being unable to practice all week and seeing if there was any way for him to play through it, he will not be able to play. He is headed to injured reserve.

“With Dennis, he’s such a tough guy, we were exploring every option to try and get him out there,” Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters on Friday. “It doesn’t appear like it’s going to work out, so he’ll be put on IR for the remainder of the season.”

Gardeck’s presence on special teams and on defense will be missed. He is second on the team in sacks with seven. He finishes the season with nine tackles, seven for loss, seven sacks, 10 quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. He is also tied for the third-most special teams tackles on the team with nine.

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Haason Reddick, Dennis Gardeck, Markus Golden among Week 15 ‘secret superstars’

Their production as a group went unheralded in the league.

The Arizona Cardinals picked up a critical win on Sunday in Week 15, a 33-26 of the Philadelphia Eagles. They had big contributions from a number of players.

Quarterback Kyler Murray threw for a career-high 406 yards, had three touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. DeAndre Hopkins caught nine passes for 169 yards and a score. Defensive lineman Zach Allen had 11 tackles, a sack and a pass breakup. Ezekiel Turner blocked a punt and caught a 26-yard pass on fourth down on a fake punt, perfectly thrown by punter Andy Lee.

But according to Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, the Cardinals also had some of the secret superstars of Week 15. It wasn’t just one player. It was a trio of players — outside linebackers Haason Reddick, Markus Golden and Dennis Gardeck.

One week after Cardinals edge-rusher Haason Reddick had five sacks against the Giants, Arizona went after the opposing quarterback again at a very high rate, and it wasn’t just Reddick. Against Jalen Hurts and the Eagles, Reddick had a sack, a quarterback hit, and eight quarterback hurries. Dennis Gardeck had two sacks and three quarterback hurries, and Markus Golden had a quarterback hit and two quarterback hurries. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph wants his rushers to attack with speed and aggressiveness, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. In a 33-26 win over the Eagles, the Cardinals forced Hurts to throw under pressure on 22 of his 55 dropbacks with six total sacks.

An impressive performance from a group capable of making any quarterback’s life pretty miserable at this point. The Cardinals are doing a lot with front diversity and protection confusion, and this is often the result.

“It is a challenge,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said last week of those pressure packages. “It’s a unique defensive call by them. They put all linebackers on the field with their defensive back guys and it’s all speed rush. They don’t bring them all every time. They drop guys out. They present eight-man pressure looks, seven-man pressure looks, and six-man pressure looks.

“It can be a little bit challenging, and it is challenging to try to decipher the code, but we do the best we can. We go in with the protection plan we have and execute it and try to eliminate as much confusion as possible.”

Hurts played very well, but it was a problem on Sunday.

The play of these three has been huge the last two weeks. Reddick is on a tear after a five-week lull of no sacks. Getting back some defensive linemen healthy has clearly made a difference for him. He has had six sacks and five forced fumbles in the last two games. Gardeck has seven sacks in only 93 defensive snaps this season.

While the Cardinals obviously miss Chandler Jones, they have picked up the slack in the pass-rushing department in his absence. Arizona is only two sacks off of the league lead with 43 sacks. They have had 14 in the last two games.

The Cardinals might need to win their final two games to get into the postseason. If they are going to do that, then their trio of edge rushers will have to continue to play at a high level.

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Kliff Kingsbury gives injury updates on Dennis Gardeck, Maxx Williams, Justin Pugh

All three have a chance of playing this week.

With a slightly shortened week, as the Arizona Cardinals will play on Saturday instead of Sunday, head coach Kliff Kingsbury addressed the media on Tuesday.

He answered questions about injuries before the first injury report of the week came out. He gave shed some light onto the status of linebacker Dennis Gardeck and tight end Maxx Williams, both of whom left the game on Sunday with injuries, and guard Justin Pugh, who did not play.

Gardeck and Williams are considered day-to-day.

Kingsbury did not say what Gardeck hurt but he has a chance to play on Saturday. The first injury report of the week revealed it is a knee injury.

“He’s working through it,” Kingsbury said. “We’re going to see. It will be a game-time decision to see how he feels. We’ll get him out there and move him around this week and take it from there.”

For Williams, who was carted to the locker room after he threw his helmet down in frustration, it is the same ankle that has plagued him all year,

“He banged that same ankle,” Kingsbury said. “Nothing too significant but it will be a day-to-day type week for Maxx as well.”

The Cardinals protected practice squad tight end Seth DeValve this week, so there is some concern Williams won’t be able to go.

Pugh could return to the lineup after sitting out a game with a calf injury.

“Justin’s feeling better. We are going to try and ease him back in,” Kingsbury said. “I’m not sure if it will be this week or next week, but he has definitely made improvement, which is a great sign.”

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