Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Zach Allen, Byron Murphy, Kelvin Beachum and Will Hernandez are all among the top available free agents this offseason.
Free agency is a couple of weeks away and the Arizona Cardinals have a number of decisions to make. They have a bunch of soon-to-be free agents at important positions.
Pro Football Focus ranked the top 100 players scheduled to be free agents.
The Cardinals have four players listed.
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J.J. Watt has concluded his NFL career. The Cardinals could have a few others retire this offseason as well.
The Arizona Cardinals bid farewell to a 4-13 2022 season and also to defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who announced he would retire after the season.
However, with big changes coming this offseason between hiring a new head coach and general manager, Watt might not be the only player retiring.
The Cardinals have a number of players who could decide to move on to other things, closing the chapter on their football playing careers.
Who are they? Read on.
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Baker was named the team MVP and Beachum was honored for his generous time and communication with the media in 2022.
With the end of the 2022 season coming this weekend, the Arizona chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) announced its year-end player awards for the Arizona Cardinals.
Local reporters who cover the team and are members of the PFWA (such as myself) voted for the team MVP and the most outstanding player for cooperation with the media.
The Lloyd Herberg MVP award goes to safety Budda Baker and the Steve Schoenfeld Good Guy Award goes to right tackle Kelvin Beachum.
Baker was awarded for his on-field play. Before landing on injured reserve with a fractured shoulder, he started all 15 games and had a currently team-leading 111 tackles, two interceptions, seven pass breakups, one forced fumble and one tackle for loss. He was selected to the Pro Bowl for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in his career.
The award is named after Lloyd Herberg, who was the beat writer covering the Cardinals for the Arizona Republic from 1988 when the team arrived to 1994 before he died.
Beachum was recognized for being available, insightful and professional while communicating with reporters this season. He is the only offensive player to start all 16 games this season thus far.
The award is named after Steve Schoenfeld, who covered the Cardinals and the NFL from 1988-2000 for the Republic until his tragic death in a hit-and-run accident. He was a former national president of the PFWA.
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McCoy suffered a concussion in the third quarter. Beachum was hurt on the same play.
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The Arizona Cardinals had to turn to third-string quarterback Trace McSorley in the second half against the Denver Broncos.
On their opening possession of the second half, Colt McCoy ran the ball to pick up a first down on third down, but when he dove, he landed on right tackle Kelvin Beachum’s leg.
McCoy went down and Beachum went down.
Beachum suffered a knee and ankle injury. The team announced he was questionable to return.
McCoy was ruled out with a concussion.
Trace McSorley entered the game to replace McCoy with no other quarterback active for the game. Cody Ford replaced Beachum at right tackle.
After the injuries, the Cardinals got a 55-yard field goal to take a 9-3 lead.
Beachum returned to the game later in the third quarter.
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The Cardinals will have used nine different starting offensive lines in 2022 but Beachum has been in all of them.
The Arizona Cardinals have dealt with so many injuries this season. It has especially affected the offense.
The Cardinals have used 77 different players this season, the most in the NFL.
But one mainstay in the lineup has been right tackle Kelvin Beachum.
Beachum is the only offensive player on the roster to have started every game this season.
Four of their five starting offensive linemen are on injured reserve. Ten of the 13 players the Cardinals have on IR are offensive players.
They have used eight different starting offensive line combinations and five in their last six games. They will start a different one against the Patriots, with Rashaad Coward out with a chest injury. Tonight’s starting offensive line will be Josh Jones at left tackle, Cody Ford at left guard, Billy Price at center, Max Garcia at right guard and Beachum at right tackle.
Of course, merely mentioning this fact perhaps will lead to a classic jinx and Beachum gets hurt against the Patriots or this week in practice.
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When he was asked about how the rookie O-linemen looked after he had been at OTAs for one day, he didn’t even know who they were.
The Arizona Cardinals wrapped up their second week of voluntary OTAs (organized team activities) on Friday. This week was the first week for several of the veteran players on the team to show up. Starting right tackle Kelvin Beachum was among those players to wait until this week to report for voluntary work.
He spoke with reporters on Wednesday after his first day of practice.
Since he is one of the veteran leaders on the team, he was asked about two of the Cardinals’ draft picks, offensive linemen Lecitus Smith and Marquis Hayes. Smith was drafted in the sixth round and Hayes in the seventh.
“I have no idea who they are,” he said. “I’m just being frank.”
It makes sense, as he has not been in the building during the voluntary part of the offseason, opting to spend more of the offseason with his family and working out on his own.
Being that he spoke to reporters right after practice, it is quite possible he has not even had a chance to meet them and even say hello. Beachum runs with the starters, while both Smith and Hayes are at the back of the line for practice and drill reps.
He said he would be able to give more information later.
“The pads will come on at State Farm Stadium,” he said. “When that process takes place, I’ll be able to give you a better assessment.
“Right now, we just got back, I’m making new friends.”
Now it is the end of the week, he likely knows who Smith and Hayes are. But because in OTAs and minicamp, practices are without pads, there is no way to know whether the rookies at the line of scrimmage look good or not.
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Cardinals right tackle Kelvin Beachum spoke positively of the development of Murray as a leader.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has been the talk of the offseason for the team, whether it has been his contract status, what he is showing up for in the voluntary part of the offseason or his leadership skills.
He arrived at OTAs (voluntary organized team activities) Wednesday along with other team leaders. One of those players was starting right tackle Kelvin Beachum.
Beachum, who has been asked on multiple occasions this offseason about the leadership and maturation of Murray, was asked about it again after Wednesday’s practice.
He is seeing what he needs to see.
“I just walked by the team room and he was leading 7-on-7 film work,” he told reporters.
Murray, entering his fourth season in the league, “is putting in the work.”
“It’s been a maturation process like I said this entire offseason, and he’s continuing to get better and he’s continuing to mature,” Beachum added. “I think when you look at somebody who you want to see progress week in and week out, year in and year out, that maturation process is really starting to take place.”
The part about being a leader on the field is not a concern that Beachum has had.
“I think he has always had that presence. I don’t think that was ever in question,” he said. “I think it’s all the intangibles that he is continuing to fine-tune.”
It sounds like perhaps there isn’t as much to worry about with Murray as many would like us to think.
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Kyler Murray wasn’t the only player to come to voluntary OTAs for the first time this week. So did Hollywood Brown and 3 starting linemen.
The biggest news coming out of OTAs for the Arizona Cardinals on Wednesday was the arrival of quarterback Kyler Murray to OTAs. It was a big deal, but he wasn’t the only player who had been absent from this voluntary part of offseason work.
Several other key players on offense arrived to the team’s Tempe headquarters to participate in OTAs for the first time. Those players included receiver Marquise Brown and three offensive line starters — D.J. Humphries, Justin Pugh and Kelvin Beachum.
“A lot of starters back,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said after practice Wednesday. “I thought the work was good, spirited. It was nice.”
Having Murray and those other guys back in the facility and on the field with their teammates helped, especially coming after the tragedy of losing teammate Jeff Gladney.
“I think having those types of veteran presence around in a time like this is definitely huge,” Kingsbury said. “All those guys are great leaders — the Pughs, the Beachums, the Humps, Kyler — that have been a part of this. It helped getting back to normalcy some. Definitely anytime you can get around those guys, I thin the younger players gravitate toward them and probably feel better about the whole situation.”
The Cardinals have two more practices of OTAs scheduled this week and then four next week before having three days of mandatory minicamp June 14-16.
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With D.J. Humphries out this weekend on the COVID list, the Cardinals will either have Kelvin Beachum, Josh Jones or Josh Miles at left tackle.
The Arizona Cardinals have to make a late-week adjustment at left tackle in Week 17. Left tackle D.J. Humphries landed on the COVID list Thursday, meaning he will miss the game on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cardinals have options to work with at left tackle but head coach Kliff Kingsbury did not have a definitive answer as to what the plan was for left tackle.
“We’re working through it,” he said on Friday.
They could go with right tackle Kelvin Beachum, who was basically exclusively a left tackle until last season when he signed with the team. They have backup Josh Miles and second-year pro Josh Jones, who played left tackle in college, was drafted to play right tackle and has seen time at guard this year.
“It’ll be a combination of one of those three guys, maybe multiple,” he said.
If Beachum is moved to left tackle, Jones likely would play right tackle. That would cause the most movement on the line.
If Jones or Miles start at left tackle, then only one position is changed, rather than two.
Of course, whoever fills in will have a challenge. The Cowboys have a fearsome trio of edge rushers this season with rookie Micah Parsons and veterans DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory.
Parsons has 13 sacks, Gregory has six and Lawrence has two.
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Beachum has been working tirelessly in the community since he joined the team last season.
Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum has made a big impact in his role as starting right tackle on the field. He has also made an impact off the field, so much that the team announced Tuesday that he has been named the Cardinals/Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
All 32 teams recognize one player on their team for their excellence on the field and community work off of it.
It is the second time he has won the team award. In 2018, he was the nominee for the New York Jets.
As a nominee, Beachum will receive a donation of up to $40,000 in his name to a charity of his choice.
“Kelvin is such an incredible representative of our team and our league and truly exemplifies what this award stands for,” said Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill in in the team’s press release. “He provides veteran leadership and consistently strong play as the starting right tackle on the NFL’s most exciting offense. But throughout his 10-year career he’s been even more committed to making a difference away from the field. Whether it’s increasing educational opportunities, eliminating food insecurity, or addressing issues of social injustice, Kelvin is a passionate and dedicated advocate and our communities are better for his efforts.”
Beachum has been active in multiple initiatives for several years.
Here is what the team wrote in their release about his community work.
In his second season with the Cardinals, Beachum has already become a mainstay in the Arizona community, embracing the opportunity to make a positive impact just as he had done during his previous stops throughout his 10-year NFL career in New York, Jacksonville and Pittsburgh. An NFL Community MVP winner each year between 2016-19 and the 2018 United Way Hometown Hero, Beachum currently serves as a task force member for the Players Coalition.
Ending hunger and providing access to clean water has long been an important cause to Beachum, who donated $10,000 to the United Way of Newark to provide 100,000 water bottles to residents in need following the Newark Water Crisis in 2019. A monthly volunteer at the United Food Bank, Beachum recently hosted a holiday food distribution with teammate Dennis Gardeck that served 200 Arizona families prior to Thanksgiving. Working with the Central Texas Food Bank, Beachum created a monthly mobile food pantry to feed families in his hometown of Mexia, and in 2017, he was named Ambassador at Large for the Central Texas Food Bank, helping raise $100,000 and matching that contribution. Beachum has contributed his time and financial resources to the Houston Food Bank, Pittsburgh Food Bank, Feeding Northeast Florida Food Bank and the Food Bank of New York City (Harlem).
Beachum celebrated World Food Day 2018 with a fan match initiative that raised $75,000 for several food banks, which helped serve more than 327,000 meals. In 2015, he also partnered with the Bread for the World organization with the goal of ending hunger in the U.S. and around the world by lobbying Congress to improve summer food programs for school children and pass the Global Food Security Act in 2016. Last year, the Beachum family hosted a food and Christmas tree donation for 100 families at Sirrine Elementary School in Chandler, AZ through a partnership with Lowe’s and the United Food Bank.
Closing the “digital divide” is another cause of particular significance to Beachum and was the topic of an NFL.com op-ed that he penned last December in which he expressed concern for children of color and students for underserved communities lacking access to internet and technology. This winter, he will donate laptops and tablets to Arizona schools to address those concerns and help bridge that divide. Last October, he announced the NFL’s Player Coalition’s donation of $50,000 to help install new internet access points for 25 school campuses in the Ector County Independent School District in West Texas, and in 2020, he made a $15,000 donation through Donors Choose to fund 34 projects across Arizona school districts to support STEAM education resources, diverse books for classroom libraries and clean water access.
In 2016, Beachum created “Kelvin Konnects,” a STEAM initiative and program designed to increase minority access to careers within the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics disciplines. As part of that program, “Kelvin Konnects” works with students of the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas and pairs them with industry leaders, local and federal elected officials and offers the opportunity for the students to immerse themselves in the world of STEAM. Each year, he also provides a backpack full of school supplies for each of the 500 children who participant in his annual football camp in Mexia.
In his capacity as a professional speaker, Beachum has delivered keynote addresses at the IT Senior Management Forum Conference, Walsh Hunger Summit at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton and Texas Project Lead the Way Summit. He has also contributed to numerous speaker series and panels on a wide range of topics, and he currently sits on two executive boards at his alma mater, Southern Methodist, where he champions diversity within admissions, pioneers inclusion efforts on campus and supports programming, recruitment and mentorship efforts for students and alumni.
He will get to wear a helmet decal through the end of the season. If he is selected as the winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for the entire league, he will get to wear a patch of the trophy on his uniform for the rest of his career. Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson currently wear the patch as previous league winners.
The 2021 “Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year” will be announced during NFL Honors, an awards special to air the Thursday before Super Bowl LVI on ABC. The winner will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of his choice.
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