Tag: Prince Amukamara

Cardinals protect CB Prince Amukamara, 3 others on practice squad in Week 6

They could have some concerns at depth at guard this week.

The Arizona Cardinals announced Tuesday the addition of veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara to the practice squad. He was one of four players they designated as protected for Week 6.

The list is different than in past weeks.

They protected the following players, according to the league’s transaction report on Tuesday.

  • CB Prince Amukamara
  • TE Evan Baylis
  • DL Michael Dogbe
  • G Koda Martin

These four players cannot be signed by another team this week.

Baylis was not protected last week but was elevated to the active roster and played four snaps.

Dogbe has been protected in previous weeks but never elevated to the roster.

Martin is an interesting one because it potentially suggests depth concerns at guard. Both J.R. Sweezy and Justin Pugh exited the Cardinals’ Week 5 win over the New York Jets with injuries.

If either is unable to play this week, Justin Murray would slide into the starting lineup. The Cardinals’ first injury report of the week will be released Wednesday afternoon. We will see if there is the possibility someone might be out this week.

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Cardinals announce addition of CB Prince Amukamara to practice squad

Amukamara was expected to sign but is added to the practice squad instead of the active roster.

It was reported the Arizona Cardinals intended on signing cornerback Prince Amukamara after he visited the team last week. The team made that expected move official on Tuesday, although it did not come as completely expected.

Amukamara was signed to the practice squad instead of the 53-man roster, just as they did with veteran safety T.J. Ward a couple of weeks ago. They released receiver Jaron Brown from the practice squad to make room for him.

He enters his 10th NFL season. He played high school ball in Arizona at Apollo High School, giving the Cardinals yet another homegrown player on their team along with Byron Murphy, Christian Kirk and D.J. Foster.

He spent five seasons with the New York Giants, then one with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the las three with the Chicago Bears. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in the offseason but released before the start of the year.

In 2019, in 15 games and 15 starts, he had 53 tackles and 10 pass breakups. In 2018, he had 66 tackles, three interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.

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Report: Giants had expressed interest in Prince Amukamara

Prior to him agreeing to terms with the Arizona Cardinals, the New York Giants had expressed an interest in signing CB Prince Amukamara.

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The New York Giants have been desperately seeking cornerback depth this season and the back-end of their roster has seen a substantial amount of turnover as a result.

Although things have quieted down a bit more over the past week, it turns out general manager Dave Gettleman & Co. were still scouring the market for potential options.

Shortly after news broke on Thursday afternoon that veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara had come to a contractual agreement with the Arizona Cardinals, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported that the Giants had sniffed around their former first-round pick.

Back in late August, Amukamara had openly expressed an interest in potentially re-joining the Giants.

“That’s where I started,” Amukamara, 31, told the New York Post at the time. “It would be awesome.”

Amukamara was the Giants’ first round selection (19th overall) in the 2011 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. After a slow start, he went on play five seasons in New York, starting 45 games and logging in 261 total tackles (six for a loss) with seven interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Amukamara left the Giants after the 2015 season and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars for one season before landing in Chicago with the Bears in 2017.

Chicago released Prince this past February and the Raiders scooped him up in May, but he was waived in August and had remained on the shelf until Thursday.

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REPORT: Cardinals intend on signing veteran CB Prince Amukamara

He had 55 tackles at 10 pass breakups for the Bears in 2019, and he had three interceptions and 12 pass breakups in 2018 for the Bears.

The Arizona Cardinals will be adding a veteran cornerback to their roster. According to multiple reports, they intend on signing Prince Amukarama, entering his 10th season in the NFL.

NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo reported Amukamara was coming for a visit in a few days with the intent to sign a contract.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano added the fact the deal has been agreed to pending clearing COVID-19 testing and protocols.

The move is interesting. Amukamara, who played high school ball in Arizona at Apollo High School (and was featured in our Homegrown Legends team for Arizona), has been a starter for the last eight seasons after not starting as a rookie.

He spent five seasons with the New York Giants, then one with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the las three with the Chicago Bears. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in the offseason but released before the start of the year.

In 2019, in 15 games and 15 starts, he had 53 tackles and 10 pass breakups. In 2018, he had 66 tackles, three interceptions, 12 pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Once signed, it will be interesting to see what role he plays. Could he replace Dre Kirkpatrick or will he be depth behind him? Would his addition potentially allow the Cardinals to trade Patrick Peterson before the midseason trade deadline? Or perhaps Amukarama is ready to be depth and play special teams. At minimum, it will create potential competition at one of the starting jobs.

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Report: Bills have shown interest in free agent CB Prince Amukamara

According to ESPN, the Buffalo Bills have shown interest in free agent cornerback Prince Amukamara.

The Buffalo Bills have had their share of injuries to the cornerback position already during the 2020 season. Most notably, Josh Norman, a veteran free agent signee from this offseason landed on the injured reserve list prior to the team’s season opener against the Jets.

Since then, the Bills have worked out a few cornerbacks and made a few noteworthy movements in regard to the position group. On Wednesday, another arrive via Prince Amukamara.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Folwer, the Bills are a team that have shown some level of interest in the defensive back. The 31-year-old was released by the Raiders in a bit of a surprise move this offseason, considering he signed a one-year deal with the team in May. He was expected to start, but rookie Damon Arnette, a first-round rookie from the recent NFL Draft, impressed during training camp leading to Amukamara’s release.

A 2011 first-round pick of the Giants, he won Super Bowl XLVI in his rookie season. That year Amukamara did break his foot holding him to seven games and missed multiple games early in his career with the Giants due to injury. However, since signing with the Jaguars in 2016, Amukamara has played in at least 14 games per season. From 2017-2019, Amukamara was with the Bears.

Amukamara has 10 career interceptions in 113 games (99 starts) with 78 passes defensed and six forced fumbles. Per Fowler’s report, the Lions have also shown interest in signing him.

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Giants should still consider a Prince Amukamara reunion

Even after the addition of veteran DB Logan Ryan, the New York Giants should consider a reunion with CB Prince Amukamara.

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The New York Giants had roster cut-downs on Saturday and one of the more glaring units that was left a little thin came at the cornerback position.

The cornerback unit looks much more grim than it did just a few short months ago — before Sam Beal opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 and the legal troubles of DeAndre Baker cornered the Giants into an uncomfortable situation just one offseason after they drafted the 23-year-old.

Recently released cornerback Prince Amukamara has obvious ties to the Giants as a former first-round pick of the team and shortly after he became available, spoke openly about how he’d welcome a return.

“That’s where I started,” Amukamara, 31, told the New York Post on Monday. “It would be awesome.”

The Giants did end up signing Logan Ryan, who insists he is a safety at this point in his career, earlier this week, but still need more bodies in the secondary. Even if the Giants plan to use Ryan as a corner at times, they are dangerously thin at the position.

As Amukamara continues to linger as a free agent, he may be able to be signed on the cheap given his interest in a potential return to Big Blue. It may behoove the Giants to look into Amukamara a bit more closely.

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Prince Amukamara: ‘Would be awesome’ to return to Giants

Free agent cornerback Prince Amukamara thinks ‘it would be awesome’ to return to the New York Giants.

The news of Prince Amukamara’s release by the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday could mean the New York Giants have found a stopgap solution to their secondary depth.

The former Giants first rounder and starter could certainly help fill the void left by arrests, injuries and opt-outs.

Amukamara would certainly welcome a reunion with the team he won a Super Bowl ring with as a rookie nine years ago.

“That’s where I started,” Amukamara, 31, told the New York Post on Monday. “It would be awesome.”

“Without a doubt. I don’t think that just goes away. There’s 64 starting corners. I think I’m a top 64 corner,” Prince said when asked if he still can play at a starting level.

The Giants are seeking a complimentary starter across the field from free agent addition James Bradberry. Amukamara believes he and Bradberry would make a fine pair.

“I feel like we’re similar corners,” he said. “We both like to play bump-and-run, press.”

Amukamara was the Giants’ first round selection (19th overall) in the 2011 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. After a slow start, Prince went on play five seasons in New York, starting 45 games at cornerback logging in 261 total tackles (six for a loss) with seven interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Amukamara left the Giants after the 2015 season and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars for one season before landing in Chicago with the Bears in 2017.

Chicago released Prince this past February and the Raiders scooped him up in May.

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Giants should consider a reunion with Prince Amukamara

The New York Giants should consider signing former first-round pick Prince Amukamara following his release from the Las Vegas Raiders.

The New York Giants may have added several defensive backs in recent weeks, but they remain in desperate need of quality cornerbacks with DeAndre Bakers on the commissioner’s exempt list and Sam Beal sitting out the season due to COVID-19.

And while they are reportedly interested in negotiating with veteran Logan Ryan, there’s no guarantee they can meet his demands or that he’d play cornerback in East Rutherford — he has spent the offseason eyeing a switch to safety.

But as fate would have it, a new option has presented itself.

On Monday, the Las Vegas Raiders released veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara, who was a first-round pick of the Giants in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Amukamara had spent the previous three seasons with the Chicago Bears, where he had elevated himself to the fourth-most valuable player on the team in terms of WAR just a season ago. He was released in February.

Amukamara signed with the Raiders in May, but as cut-down day looms, they clearly believed he wasn’t the right fit.

The 31-year-old Amukamara would provide the Giants with a quality veteran presence across from James Bradberry and would shore up their lacking CB2 spot.

In 113 career games (55 with the Giants), Amukamara has recorded 477 tackles, 78 passes defensed and 10 interceptions. He finished last season with a 67.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, but graded out at 70.0 in coverage.

In addition to his time with the Giants, Bears and Raiders, Amukamara also spent the 2016 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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Raiders QB Derek Carr excited about ‘stickier’ coverage by Las Vegas cornerbacks

Cornerback was a position of need for the Raiders this offseason, and they missed out in free agency. Not to worry, says QB Derek Carr.

The Raiders replenished their defense at every level this offseason, via the draft and free agency, though not all went according to plan.

General manager Mike Mayock attempted to land a big free-agent prize at cornerback but missed out on Byron Jones, who ended up signing with the Dolphins. The Raiders also reportedly signed CB Eli Apple to a bargain contract, but the deal fell through.

But not to worry. Mayock and coach Jon Gruden turned to the draft to fill the need, selecting Damon Arnette in the first round. He’s been lining up with the starting unit, along with second-year CB, Trayvon Mullen, and quarterback Derek Carr is impressed.

“I’m really excited about our corners,” Carr said from training camp on Tuesday. “The coverage is stickier. They are doing some good things, so very excited.”

It’s just an early impression from practice, but Carr’s comment is still encouraging for the Las Vegas defense. Though cornerback was a priority in the offseason, the Raiders’ group is young and mostly unproven, even behind their current starters.

Rounding out the depth chart are second-year prospects Isaiah Johnson and Keisean Nixon, along with rookie Amik Robertson. The Raiders did sign one veteran in free agency in Prince Amukamara, and he could step into a starting role if needed. Returning veteran Nevin Lawson also figures to be in the mix.

But it’s best for the Raiders if Arnette and Mullen can hold on to their starting spots. The two represent large investments in the draft and could potentially patrol the corners for years to come. According to team leader, Derek Carr, so far, so good.

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Gallery: Everson Griffen’s 2019 season with the Vikings

It was reported on Wednesday that Everson Griffen had signed a deal with the Dallas Cowboys. Here are photos from his 2019 campaign.

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