Tag: Rodney Hudson

Cardinals injuries: Kyler Murray limited, OL Rodney Hudson out

The Cardinals will be without their starting center Sunday and Chandler Jones’ status is up in the air. The biggest news is that Kyler Murray was limited with a throwing shoulder issue in practice:

The Cleveland Browns face off with the Arizona Cardinals in a big Week 6 matchup. With the Cardinals coming in undefeated, the Browns have their hands full as they fight to avoid dropping down to a .500 record early in the 2021 season.

The story for Cleveland this week will be injuries. The team has a significant amount of starters who could be questionable for the game. While the Browns get the benefit of the home game, Arizona has played very well this season and could easily knock off an injury-riddled Cleveland squad.

The Cardinals have their own concerns with players being limited or missing Sunday’s matchup. We’ve noted the concerns with their top pass rusher, Chandler Jones, being placed on the COVID-19 list and his status for Sunday up in the air.

Now comes news that two important offensive pieces have injury issues. Rodney Hudson will miss the matchup in Cleveland due to rib and shoulder problems. The more important news is that electric quarterback Kyler Murray was limited in practice due to a shoulder issue.

Murray was seen getting medical attention on his throwing shoulder during last Sunday’s game. The Cardinals quarterback had an AC joint issue in the same shoulder last year which coincided with a drop in production late in the season.

While Murray was limited in practice, the expectation is that he will play on Sunday. How much his shoulder limits his ability to push the ball downfield could dramatically impact the outcome of the game.

Cardinals C Rodney Hudson ruled out for Week 6 with rib injury

Max Garcia will make the start at center this weekend against the Cleveland Browns.

The Arizona Cardinals will be without their starting center in Week 6 when they take on the Cleveland Browns on the road. Rodney Hudson, who suffered a rib injury in the Cardinals’ 17-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5, has been ruled out for Week 6.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters Wednesday Hudson “won’t be available this week.”

He is the fourth Cardinals player this season to suffer a rib injury that causes him to miss at least one game.

Right tackle Kelvin Beachum missed two games and cornerbacks Byron Murphy and Marco Wilson both missed the game against the 49ers.

In Hudson’s absence, Max Garcia, who finished the game at center against the 49ers, will get the start at center.

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Kliff Kingsbury gives injury updates about Rodney Hudson, others

There wasn’t much new information about the injured Arizona Cardinals players.

The Arizona Cardinals enter Week 6 with questions about several players and their injury status. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury addressed the media Monday afternoon and gave updates about some of those players.

Check out what he had to say.

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Here is how Raiders C Andre James went from undrafted tackle to replacing one of NFL’s best centers

Raiders C Andre James went from undrafted tackle to replacing one of NFL’s best centers

Two years ago, Andre James went undrafted as a tackle. And now he is being asked to replace one of the best centers in the game. The NFL can be a crazy place sometimes.

On day one of Raiders training camp, James stepped to the podium to speak with the media for the first time ever.

Prior to this year, he spent two years sitting behind Rodney Hudson as a relative unknown who seemed like he was closer to the roster fringe than replacing a player of Hudson’s stature.

That all changed this offseason in a big way. Hudson was traded to the Cardinals for a third-round pick — in large part as a cost-cutting measure — and suddenly the job was James’s to lose. A far cry from a guy who two years ago was passed up in the draft and has appeared on offense in just two games with one start in his young career.

The Raiders liked James because he has quick feet. Those feet served him well as a tackle at UCLA, while his 6-4 stature was more suited for a move inside. That combination of things had Tom Cable thinking center. Even if James was not.

“Coming in being undrafted was definitely kind of a blow,” James said. “Change of positions was also a big thing to me, it was like ‘we want you to play center’ and I was like ‘perfect let’s do it.’ Didn’t think I was going to play center. I knew I was going to play something interior because I didn’t think of myself as a tackle, but my mindset was just attack it, listen to everything I could, pick up everything I can from these older guys like Rodney and everything Cable’s told me and just take it day-by-day.”

This all seems like a real roll of the dice given James’s limited game experience. But if there was any doubt about the faith the coaching staff has in him, that was put to rest when they gave him an extension this offseason. It also put James’s mind at ease.

“It feels awesome, man, honestly,” James said of the faith the coaches have shown in him. “It gives me confidence having confidence from these coaches. It helps me elevate my game in a way that I have no need to worry and I can go out there and play as hard as I can.”

Rodney Hudson leaves behind some big shoes to fill. For James’s part, though, he benefited from having Hudson as a mentor. Sitting behind Hudson these past couple of seasons afforded James the time to work on the intricacies of the center position while learning from a master.

“Rodney is arguably one of the best centers in the league,” said James. “Every day I came in here, I got a little piece of information from him every day. That’s the same tack I take on it every day I just get a little better. Just work on the little things and it adds up over time to get a little better. So, everything I learned from him, I’m still using today.”

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Cardinals C Rodney Hudson a top-10 interior O-lineman based on players, coaches, execs

The Arizona Cardinals’ new starting center is considered a top-10 interior lineman by players, coaches and execs. He is ranked 2nd among centers.

The Arizona Cardinals got arguably the best center in the NFL this offseason when they acquired Rodney Hudson in a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders. They then extended his contract so he is under contract through 2023.

He was recognized by Touchdown Wire as the best center in the league.

In rankings from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, calculated with votes from NFL players, coaches and executives, Hudson is not best center or best interior lineman, but he makes the top 10.

He ranks ninth overall. He fell from sixth overall to ninth in one year.

Voters had him ranked as high as fourth and as low as 15th.

Hudson is still regarded as one of the game’s best centers despite a 66.3% pass-block rate and an offseason trade from Las Vegas to Arizona. The Cardinals are banking on his intangibles to impact Kyler Murray’s game.

“At Florida State, we used to call him Mr. Velcro: ‘Please don’t slam me, Mr. Velcro,'” said a former Seminoles teammate and longtime NFL player. “He’s just always been a different level athletically, and that hasn’t really changed.”

As an AFC defensive coach added, “When I found out [Las Vegas] was trading guys like that, I was like, why didn’t we get him? He still has something left — at least two to three really good years.”

The Cardinals are confident he is a significant upgrade over Mason Cole, who was the starter last season. They now have him for three years, which matches the window the AFC coach believes he will still be very good.

He is 32 years old and a three-time Pro Bowler. He was not penalized even once last season.

Among centers, he is ranked second behind Detroit’s Frank Ragnow.

His presence should pay dividends offensively for Arizona in 2021.

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Cardinals’ Rodney Hudson named NFL’s top center

Few Arizona Cardinals players have been on offseason lists of top players at different positions. That changes at center, as they have the No. 1 overall player.

The Arizona Cardinals have had their players left out of almost all the lists of the top players at each position from Touchdown Wire this offseason. However, at one position, the Cardinals not only have a player on the list, but he’s No. 1.

Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield ranked the top 11 centers in the NFL and the Arizona Cardinals’ starter, Rodney Hudson, finds himself at the top of the list.

And a second top player in the interior has switched teams.

First it was Corey Linsley, and now Rodney Hudson who is moving from one desert to another, joining the Arizona Cardinals after playing for the Las Vegas Raiders. Over his NFL career Hudson has been one of the league’s most consistent pass blockers at center, having allowed just ten sacks on over 5,000 pass blocking reps. Here is a sampling of what he’ll be bringing to the NFC West:

https://youtu.be/qRMzVXkyutY

I pulled these plays because you see some different techniques from Hudson, including quick-setting, as well as him handling stunts and looking for work. Arizona Cardinals fans are hoping that Kyler Murray takes a big step forward in 2021, and having Hudson in front of him will be a huge help.

The Cardinals traded for and extended the contract of Hudson, massively upgrading the position. It was a priority for the Cardinals in the offseason, as they were also in on Corey Linsley before he ultimately signed with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Hudson’s play should give quarterback Kyler Murray better protection up the middle, allowing him to make throws without having to scramble out of the pocket.

His presence should also improve the inside running game, which struggled in short-yardage situations last season.

He might be the most impactful addition to the offense this offseason.

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The NFL’s top 11 centers

Rodney Hudson, J.C. Tretter and Corey Lindsey top Touchdown Wire’s list of the best in the middle.

The relationship between a quarterback and his center is one of the most critical in all of football. It is a bond forged through sweat, hard work, hours of practice, and more sweat.

A lot more.

Honestly as a former quarterback I’m very envious of those coming up playing the position now as both the shotgun and the pistol formations are becoming standard operating procedure. Would have made some summer mornings in Middletown, Connecticut a lot more enjoyable…

But as we have seen with guards, centers are critical to modern offenses. From handling pass protection responsibilities to the various ways centers are needed in the run game, it is hard to assemble a top-flight NFL offense without a stud in the middle.

Here are the NFL’s 11 best centers.

More contract details for Cardinals C Rodney Hudson

We now know what his salary will be all three years he is under contract.

The Arizona Cardinals signed center Rodney Hudson to a contract extension after acquiring him in a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders. According to Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals are on the hook for three years and $30 million.

In Tuesday’s story, there were some assumed details based on the numbers Rapoport gave.

He reported that it was a total of $30 million and that there was $16 million in total guarantees, while $10.9 million was fully guaranteed.

What did we know for sure?

He got $8.8 million to sign. His 2021 salary of $1.1 million is fully guaranteed.

We have the rest of his salary numbers from the NFLPA website.

Hudson’s salary in 2022 is still scheduled to be $10.85 million. His salary in 2023 is $8.25 million.

We are missing a couple of details still.

Rapoport said there was $10.9 million fully guaranteed. $9.9 million is known. My guess is $1 million of his 2022 salary is fully guaranteed.

Rapoport said the deal is for a total of $30 million. Between his salary and bonus, that comes to $29 million. My guess is he is due a roster bonus of $1 million in 2023 at the start of the new league year. I don’t know, but that is my guess.

And if there is $16 million in total guarantees, there is $5.1 million unaccounted for.

$1 million could be the presumed roster bonus in 2023. Another $1 million could be the presumed fully guaranteed portion of his 2022 salary. That leaves $3.1 million unaccounted for. That could be an additional portion of his 2022 salary that becomes fully guaranteed at a certain point or it could be a vesting guarantee on part of 2023.

Those details are still to come.

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Rodney Hudson restructures contract to give Cardinals more than $7M in cap space

Center Rodney Hudson converted nearly $9 million of his salary to a bonus, creating more than $7 million in cap space this year.

The Arizona Cardinals made a couple of moves with player contracts that will save them some salary cap space this year. One was restructuring the contract of recently acquired center Rodney Hudson.

Hudson was scheduled to make $9.9 million in salary this season. That was also going to be his cap hit.

To save more than $7 million in cap space, the Cardinals paid Hudson $8.8 million as a bonus, reducing his salary to slightly more than the league minimum at $1.1 million, which is fully guaranteed.

With the change, instead of a cap hit of $9.9 million, his contract will count $2.86 million against the cap.

Hudson already had two voided years on his contract after 2022, but the Cardinals added a third voided year, which allows Arizona to prorate the cap hit to 1/5 of the total.

Next season, his cap hit will increase by $1.76 million. He is scheduled to make $10.85 million in 2022 but now will have a cap hit of $12.61 million.

When the contract voids in 2023, 3/5 of his bonus proration will then become a dead money charge against the cap that year, for a total of $5.28 million.

The $5.28 million in dead money in two seasons and the addition of $1.76 million against the cap next year are worth the more than $7 million in space the move creates now.

What will the Cardinals do now? It might simply to create flexibility for moves coming down the line.

If the Cardinals extend Hudson’s contract before it voids, they will avoid the dead money charge and then the yearly proration of $1.76 million will continue for three more seasons.

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Pro Bowl C Rodney Hudson would be a dream signing for the Rams

The Raiders are shockingly releasing Rodney Hudson, who would be a huge addition to the Rams offensive line.

In the NFL, there are surprising releases, and then there are downright stunners. The Raiders’ decision to cut three-time Pro Bowl center Rodney Hudson absolutely falls under the latter category.

By releasing Hudson, the Raiders take on $15.6 million in dead money, which is actually $2 million more than his cap hit ($13.6 million) was going to be for the 2021 season. They could designate him a post-June 1 cut to save some money this year, but either way, this is one of the most shocking moves of the offseason.

It’s also a move that could greatly benefit the Rams, who just happen to be in the market for a starting center. Austin Blythe is a pending free agent and while he’s a solid player, he’s not close to the player that Hudson is.

According to Pro Football Focus, Hudson has allowed just three sacks on 3,445 pass-blocking snaps since 2015. For comparison, Blythe allowed four sacks in 2020 alone. Hudson’s pass-blocking grade of 93.6 is the highest of any center since 2015, too.

Hudson, 31, is on the older side for an offensive lineman, but his age shouldn’t deter the Rams from signing him. He was a Pro Bowler in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and has missed a total of four games since 2013. Hudson is arguably the best center in football and someone who can change the outlook of an offensive line in a hurry.

The Rams already have a handful of quality starters at guard and tackle, but center was the weak link for them in 2020. Hudson would be an upgrade over Blythe, even if he would cost significantly more.

On his last contract, Hudson was making $11.25 million per year; it was a three-year, $33.75 million deal with the Raiders. He was the second-highest paid center in football, and there’s little reason to believe his next team won’t give him at least $9 million per year.

The Rams should be among those calling the veteran’s agent in an attempt to lure him to Los Angeles. It would give him a shot to win a Super Bowl, as well as the chance to play on an offense that features Matthew Stafford, Cam Akers, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.

The Rams are limited with how much money they can spend, but after restructuring contracts and creating a boatload of cap space, Hudson is a player worth going after.

And as always with players who are released, he won’t count toward the compensatory pick formula.

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