2023 Cardinals’ biggest disappointment: CB Marco Wilson

Of all the disappointments, Wilson’s play was the greatest in 2023 for the Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals had a lot of things go wrong in 2023 en route to a 4-13 record. With being award season, we have named several players for honors for their 2023 season with the Cardinals.

We have one award that is not so much an award as it is a problem — who was the most disappointing player this season?

That would have to be cornerback Marco Wilson.

Wilson entered the season as the team’s No. 1 cornerback. It was te perfect opportunity to grow into a greater role like Byron Murphy did in 2021.

However, Wilson struggled. After three interceptions and 10 pass breakups in 2022, he had none with four pass breakups in 11 games before he was benched and later released.

According to Pro Football Reference, he allowed 727 receiving yards when targeted and five touchdown passes.

After 11 games, he was completely benched and didn’t play a defensive snap again for the Cardinals before he was released and subsequently claimed off waivers by the New England Patriots.

It was unfortunate, but he was the most disappointing player on the roster this past season.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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James White approves of Patriots signing CB Marco Wilson

James White likes the Patriots’ newest addition

Former New England Patriots running back James White is liking the team’s newest addition to the secondary. White approved of the team’s signing of cornerback Marco Wilson, when commenting on social media.

The Patriots’ secondary has been oft-injured this season. The first major injury came when rookie first-round draft pick Christian Gonzalez suffered a torn labrum on October 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Since then, the secondary position has been dealing with issues. The team lost Marcus Jones for the season, and J.C. Jackson was recently placed on the reserve/non-football illness list.

There’s hope Wilson can provide quality depth for the team in the final two games of the season, and White seems to think highly of the move.

Wilson will certainly be tested, as New England takes on Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. The Bills rank ninth in the NFL with 243.7 passing yards per game. The Patriots took the last meeting between the two teams on October 22, and they’ll attempt to do so again on Sunday.

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New Patriots CB celebrates being signed by team on Instagram

Marco Wilson on being signed by the Patriots: “God is great”

The New England Patriots put in a successful waiver claim for Marco Wilson on Wednesday, and the cornerback took to Instagram to celebrate the move.

Wilson has been a productive player for the Arizona Cardinals this season, appearing in 15 games for the organization. He has recorded 52 total tackles on the year, including a season-high 11 tackles against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 8.

Wilson will be able to provide secondary depth to a positional unit that has really struggled with injuries this season. Alex Austin was the only healthy corner on the organization’s roster at the time of the waiver claim.

After the signing, Wilson was extremely thankful for the opportunity, sharing his excitement on his Instagram story.

The Patriots could look to Wilson to contribute right away with the team slated to travel to Orchard Park for a showdown with the red-hot Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

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Titans put in unsuccessful waiver claim on CB Marco Wilson

The Titans were one of three teams to put in a bid for CB Marco Wilson.

The Tennessee Titans made an attempt to add to their injured secondary on Wednesday, with the team putting in a waiver claim on former Arizona Cardinals cornerback, Marco Wilson.

A former fourth-round pick in 2021, Wilson became available after being waived by the Cardinals a few days back. The 26-year-old had three teams interested, with the Titans being one of them.

It was an unsuccessful bid, though, as the New England Patriots nabbed him with the higher waiver priority. Also interested were the Denver Broncos, who sat behind Tennessee in the waiver order.

After a solid sophomore campaign, Wilson has regressed mightily in 2023, giving up a completion on 73.4 percent of the passes thrown his way for 727 yards and five touchdowns (136.7 passer rating).

Even still, Wilson would’ve been a helpful addition considering how short-handed Tennessee is in the cornerbacks room, with Sean Murphy-Bunting dealing with an injury and Kristian Fulton out for the season.

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CB Marco Wilson claimed by Patriots

Wilson will get another shot with New England.

Former Arizona Cardinals cornerback Marco Wilson has already landed with another team. After being released by Arizona, he was claimed off waivers by the New England Patriots.

The Patriots take over the remainder of his contract. He is still signed through 2024.

Wilson, a former fourth-round pick, will have the opportunity to show he is still able to play and start.

Wilson started 11 games this season for the Cardinals and played almost every snap before being benched. He had 52 tackles and four pass breakups this season for the Cardinals.

In his career, he has played in 43 games, starting 37 of them. Ha has 158 career tackles, three interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), 18 pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Former Florida DB waived by Arizona, claimed by New England

Arizona released former Florida defensive back Marco Wilson in the third year of his rookie contract, but New England has claimed him off waivers.

The Arizona Cardinals released former Florida defensive back [autotag]Marco Wilson[/autotag] on Tuesday, and the New England Patriots quickly claimed him off waivers on Wednesday, according to Adam Schefter.

Wilson’s snap count decreased significantly until he was removed from the cornerback rotation and put into a special teams role in Week 12. Although he was never elite, Wilson showed improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 in the NFL.

Pro Football Focus gave him a 48.6 overall defensive grade over nearly 800 snaps as a rookie, and he jumped up to a 55.2 in 2022. Wilson’s 2023 defensive grade on PFF currently sits at 41.2 — a career low. A significant dropoff in coverage and as a pass rusher has hurt him more than improving as a tackler and run defender has helped.

Still, there seems to be a future for Wilson in the NFL. Although no team was willing to trade for him, Bill Belichick and the Patriots claimed him, which means they are on the hook for his contract through next season. J.C. Jackson recently went on the non-football illness list last week, but this could end up being more than just a depth addition for New England.

The former Gator leaves the Cardinals with 158 career tackles, three forced fumbles and three interceptions.

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Patriots claim former fourth-round draft pick CB on waivers

The Patriots reportedly beat out two other teams to land a former fourth-round draft pick on waivers Wednesday.

Three teams in total put in a bid for recently released cornerback Marco Wilson, and on Wednesday, the Patriots, who had top priority, were awarded the former fourth-round pick of the 2021 NFL draft.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Patriots winning the waiver claim, while Field Yates followed up with the news that the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos also put in claims for Wilson, who was released on Tuesday.

In three seasons with the Cardinals, Wilson had 37 starts, three interceptions, 18 pass deflections and three forced fumbles. However, he also struggled significantly in coverage this season, which led to the Cardinals ultimately cutting their losses.

The Patriots are shorthanded at cornerback with Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones both being on injured reserve, along with J.C. Jackson being placed on the reserve/non-football illness list.

Myles Bryant, Alex Austin and Shaun Wade have done a tremendous job in helping fill the void on the backend of the defense behind longtime veteran Jonathan Jones. Wilson is another experienced body being added to the rotation for depth purposes.

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Cardinals release CB Marco Wilson

Wilson started the first 11 games of the season but had not played a defensive snap in the last four games.

The Arizona Cardinals have moved on from another of the draft picks by former general manager Steve Keim. The team announced that cornerback Marco Wilson was released.

Wilson was a fourth-round draft pick in 2021 and entered this season as the teams No. 1 cornerback. However, after starting 11 games, he was benched and did not play another defensive snap and played only on special teams.

With cornerback and special teams ace Bobby Price set to be activated from injured reserve, Wilson was no longer needed.

He finished his season with 53 tackles and four pass breakups.

As tweeted by ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss, Wilson allowed the most receiving yards on the Cardinals and the fourth-most in the NFL despite not playing on defense for the last four games.

The Cardinals also released tight end John Samuel Shenker from the practice squad.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Marco Wilson, Keaontay Ingram latest Cardinals to get benched

Marco Wilson did not log a single snap on defense against the Rams after starting all 11 games before Week 12.

The Arizona Cardinals have made a few moves in the starting lineup this season. Rookie cornerback Kei’Trel Clark was benched earlier this season. Before he got hurt, left guard Elijah Wilkinson was benched in favor of Trystan Colon. Offensive lineman Dennis Daley isn’t active on game days recently.

The latest to see their spot in the playing rotation disappear were cornerback Marco Wilson and running back Keaontay Ingram.

Wilson, who started the first 11 games of the season, not only was not a starter on Sunday in the Cardinals’ 37-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, he did not log a single snap on defense. Instead, three rookies — Clark, Garrett Williams and Starling Thomas — were in the starting lineup.

And when Thomas injured his ankle and was not able to return, Marco was not the Wilson to replace him. Instead, it was practice squader Divaad Wilson, who was elevated on Saturday for the game.

Ingram was not even active with the return of Emari Demercado. He has fallen behind Demercado and newly added Michael Carter.

Where do both currently stand?

“They’ll both be battling to play,” said head coach Jonathan Gannon after the game.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Marco Wilson silent as others take responsibility for Ja’Marr Chase’s huge game

HC Jonathan Gannon and safety K’Von Wallace say blame them for Ja’Marr Chase’s huge game. Marco Wilson skipped out on reporters.

The Arizona Cardinals lost 34-20 to the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon at State Farm Stadium. Quarterback Joe Burrow had a big game, passing for 317 yards and three touchdowns. His best receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, had a huge game.

Chase was targeted 19 times and caught 15 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns.

Cardinals cornerback Marco Wilson was tasked much of the game with shadowing him and being the primary player in coverage to defend him.

The Cardinals’ game plan didn’t work as Chase had a career-high in catches, the third-highest yardage total in a game in his career and matched his high in touchdowns.

After the game, multiple Cardinals took responsibility for Chase’s performance.

However, the one player who probably should have did not. Wilson did not speak to reporters after the game. With reporters standing behind him waiting for him to change, he got dressed, put on his jewelry and walked out without turning around, saying a word or even looking at them.

Others spoke about the game and took the blame.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon blamed his decision making at the top.

“You can’t let their best player beat you and that’s just what we did,” he said postgame. “That falls solely on me, but we can’t let that happen again.

“Point blank, there’s the game on defense, you let their best player beat you. I’m pissed off about it. It’s my fault and we’ve got to get that cleaned up.”

Gannon was clearly not pleased that the game plan went so poorly, either because of Wilson not playing well enough or him not getting enough help.

Safety K’Von Wallace, who had several big plays in the game, also put some of the blame on himself.

“I personally have to do better and I feel like, if I do better, a lot of those plays that (Chase) had wouldn’t have happened,” he said after the game. “Put it on me.”

It is awesome to see the head coach and teammates willing to lighten the load of blame, as Wilson was tasked with covering one of the most talented receivers in all the NFL.

But for him to skirt addressing his play and Chase’s performance is disappointing.

Gannon preaches accountability. Perhaps Wilson is doing enough to take responsibility in front of the coaches and his teammates. We don’t know that because he ducked out. It would be one thing to sneak out when reporters aren’t around waiting. To overtly do it while people are waiting is a bad look.

Does this mean anything? That all depends on how he handles things with coaches and teammates behind closed doors. What ultimately matters is how accountable he is to them and how he addresses things moving forward.

Had he simply said this — “Guys, I don’t have much to say. We sucked and I didn’t do well enough. I’m disappointed because I expect more out of myself and failed to live up to my own and my coaches’ expectations. He’s a great player but that never should have happened. We’ll get it cleaned up.” — it would have been enough. Instead, it sends a bad message to fans and to those who cover the team.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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