The Cardinals have made a roster move to formally end BJ Ojulari’s 2024 season.
Arizona announced on Monday that Ojulari has been placed on injured reserve, after the edge rusher tore his ACL late last week.
Ojulari, 22, was a second-round pick in the 2023 draft. He appeared in all 17 games as a rookie, playing 37 percent of Arizona’s defensive snaps and 21 percent of special teams snaps.
He finished his first season with 4.0 sacks with five tackles for loss and six quarterback hits.
After posting last night’s item regarding the NFL Players Association telling the NFL, the Cardinals, and Fanatics that Marvin Harrison Jr. jerseys cannot be sold, someone posted a response regarding the inability to customize Arizona jerseys bearing Harrison’s name and number.
So we tried it out. And, indeed, “Harrison” (for Cardinals jersey) falls into the NFL’s equivalent of the seven words you can’t say on television.
For the NFL, there’s more than seven. A lot more. (Trust me, we tried.) Even words that used to be frowned upon that are now common on TV (Hell and Fart and Ass and even Assman, for instance) are forbidden.
We also tried to customize jerseys for a handful of notorious NFL figures. Rae Carruth? No. Aaron Hernandez (Patriots 81), O.J. Simpson (Bills 32), and Darren Sharper (Saints 42)? Yes.
It’s stunning but not surprising. It would be an easy workaround for anyone who wants a Harrison jersey. At the same time, what if there’s a Cardinals fan whose last name is Harrison?
Actually, that fan can customize a Cardinals jersey, as long as the number isn’t 18 or 88. (Or 82, for some reason.)
So here’s a hack. Buy a jersey with an 8, and then put a strip of white tape next to the number.
Before they inevitably add “8" to the list of more-than-seven dirty words.
After Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. signed his rookie contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that the deal gave the NFL Players Association the ability to sell his jerseys, despite a lingering dispute with apparel provider Fanatics.
Now, Rapoport reports that the NFLPA has told the NFL, the Cardinals, and Fanatics that they are not permitted to sell Harrison’s jersey.
Searches at NFLShop.com and the Cardinals’ official website return no jerseys for the son of Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison.
Fanatics has sued Harrison Jr. for breach of contract, based on a deal that was allegedly done while he was playing at Ohio State. The case remains pending.
It’s unclear how Harrison has been able to prevent the jersey sales, if (as reported) he signed a contract containing the language allowing it. Regardless, everyone who would be getting a piece of the action is currently getting nothing from anyone who would spend their money on a Harrison jersey.
The Cardinals are keeping one of their recent first-round picks around.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Zaven Collins has agreed to a two-year extension to keep him with the club through 2026.
Schefter reports the new deal is worth $14 million, including $11.25 million guaranteed.
Arizona had declined Collins’ fifth-year option in the spring. Had the club picked it up, Collins would have been owed $13.251 million guaranteed in 2025.
Collins, 25, has appeared in 50 games with 39 starts over his first three seasons. He started all 17 contests in 2023, playing 58 percent of the Cardinals’ defensive snaps. He finished the year with 41 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, an interception, and three passes defensed.
Dwight Freeney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility. It likely was a year longer than he likely thought he should wait.
No matter, Freeney saw his bust unveiled Saturday after seven Pro Bowls, three All-Pros, an All-Decade Team, 16 seasons, 47 forced fumbles and 125.5 sacks. His patented spin move still is talked about and copied today.
Colts owner Jim Irsay called Freeney “a twirling dervish” in his presentation of Freeney.
Freeney was the first of seven inductees honored Saturday in a ceremony delayed an hour and 45 minutes by inclement weather, and his speech will be hard to follow.
“I want to thank this great game of football for giving me the opportunity to express myself and my creativity to the world,” Freeney said. “I always felt like I was an artist, and the football field was my canvas, and I am forever grateful for that feeling. One of the things that motivated me was never being completely satisfied with myself and my performance. It’s what drove me to continue to improve my skillset and my mission to perfect my craft and try to dominate every Sunday.
“I realized that in order for me to win battles on the field I had to win the internal battles with myself. I had to keep pushing myself not to be complacent or lazy, to not look for excuses for why something didn’t happen but to make it happen.”
Freeney made an impact as a rookie when he set a team rookie record with 13 sacks and led the NFL with nine forced fumbles and 20 tackles for loss. It was one of seven double-digit sack seasons he had.
He did it at 6 foot 1, 268 pounds.
Freeney played 11 seasons with the Colts and went on to spend time with the Chargers, Cardinals, Falcons, Lions and Seahawks, retiring after the 2017 season.
“From time to time, I think about coming out of retirement for just for one more year,” Freeney said. “Until I realize I can’t even catch my 3-year-old running down the hallway with the TV remote in her hand. It’s crazy. I went from chasing quarterbacks in the league to pulling my hamstring in the hallway chasing my kids.”
Freeney credited his mom for teaching him that “life isn’t a straight road; it’s full of peaks and valleys, and navigating through them is the key.”
“If you’re a young, aspiring, future NFL player, let me say this: Football’s not an easy game, and it can seem like it’s an impossible journey,” Freeney said in ending his speech. “But alwa remember that your hard work and sacrifice are the keys to opening the door to your dreams. People will call you too slow, too short, not tough enough, not strong enough. Use those words as fuel to ignite the internal fire that will motivate you and push to places you never thought were possible.
“All those bumps and bruises that make you want to quit. Fighting through that will make you into a better player and a better person. So I hope that you guys can look at my journey, and what I went through, and know that it’s possible to become who you want to be.”
Cardinals pass rusher BJ Ojulari injured his left knee in Friday’s practice.
Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports that Ojulari tore his anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the season.
A second-round pick in 2023, Ojulari played all 17 games with no starts. He saw action on 409 defensive snaps and 92 on special teams and made 40 tackles and four sacks.
Right tackle Jonah Williams was blocking Ojulari when Ojulari went down.
“It’s football,” Williams said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “I hope he’s all right. He’s a great player, and I enjoy playing with him.”
Ojulari instead will spend the season rehabbing.
During the preseason, NFL teams have to balance a desire to get promising young players some live game action experience with a desire not to get them hurt. In Arizona, the plan is to get first-round rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. on the field.
“I think he needs to get out there and play,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said of Harrison, via the Arizona Republic.
Harrison wants to play in the preseason.
“Hopefully I get to play,” Harrison said. “I definitely want to play, get out there, always compete.”
Harrison said he likes the idea of having some games to work out the kinks before they count in the standings, and he even thinks the NCAA should have a preseason.
“Honestly, I think there probably should be preseason games in college,” Harrison said. “I think people should take advantage of that a little bit more. College, they only play 12 games so two extra games of preseason won’t hurt. But hopefully I get a chance to go out there and compete.”
The Cardinals open the preseason against the Saints on Saturday, August 10.
Bears safety Jonathan Owens is in Paris today to see his wife, Simone Biles, compete for another Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. Another NFL player is taking a different approach.
Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson, whose fiancée Sophia Smith scored two goals for the U.S. women’s soccer team in their Olympic win over Germany, is staying at training camp rather than going to Paris.
Wilson said that if he were a veteran like Owens, heading into his seventh NFL season, he might have asked for time off to go to the Olympics. But Wilson is heading into his second season and doesn’t think he’s earned the right to miss training camp.
“It’s too important of a year to miss,” Wilson said, via ESPN.
The 24-year-old Wilson had a promising rookie season last year, catching 38 passes for 565 yards and leading the Cardinals with a 14.9-yards per catch average. His focus is all on an even better season in Year Two.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was hailed as the team’s savior when it drafted him No. 1 overall. That was six seasons ago, and the Cardinals have gotten no closer to the Super Bowl than they had before he arrived.
He has played in one playoff game, and it was the worst game of his career.
Murray, 26, went 42-0 at Allen High School in winning three Texas state titles. He went 12-2 at Oklahoma, getting the Sooners to the College Football Playoff.
The Cardinals are 28-36-1 in his regular-season starts and have only one winning season.
“I’m not used to losing,” Murray said, via David Brandt of the Associated Press. “I know it sounds cliche, been five years going on six, but haven’t won yet. The sense of urgency is definitely there. You never know when the game is going to be taken away from you. You never know how long you’ll be playing.
“My goal is to be the best.”
Murray missed the first half of last season while rehabbing from the torn ACL in his right knee. He made it back 11 months after his injury, and the Cardinals, who started 1-8 without him, went 3-5 in his return.
He feels better heading into this year.
“Last year was just such a whirlwind for me as far as being hurt, then rehabbing the whole year, coming back in the middle of the season,” Murray said. “I think this year, starting off fresh, it’s a big difference.”
No one expects much of the Cardinals this season, and Murray hopes to prove them wrong.
Patrick Mahomes has seen plenty of items on his cell phone device in recent days about quarterbacks from other teams making more and more and more money. Because the media has generally accepted new-money annual average as the universal currency for ranking player pay, it looks like Mahomes is woefully underpaid.
The three-time Super Bowl winner, whose worst outcome in any of his six seasons as a starter is losing in overtime of the AFC Championship, has a new-money APY of $45 million. Three quarterbacks (Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love) are at $55 million. Five others (Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts) are north of $50 million.
But there are other ways to look at these contracts. One way is to focus on the cash to be paid in the coming years.
And from 2023-26, as well as 2024-27, one player still leads the way in four-year cash flow. It’s Mahomes.
Here’s the four-year cash flow from 2023 through 2026, per a source with access to the numbers:
1. Mahomes: $210.6 million.
2. Lamar Jackson: $208 million.
3. Deshaun Watson: $184 million.
4. Joe Burrow: $181 million.
5. Daniel Jones:: $160 million.
6. Justin Herbert: $157 million.
7. Jalen Hurts: $157 million.
8. Kyler Murray: $153 million.
9. Josh Allen: $136 million.
10. Matthew Stafford: $121.5 million.
With recent deals included, here’s the four-year cash flow from 2024 through 2027:
1. Mahomes: $215.6 million.
2. Burrow: $213.9 million.
3. Jared Goff: $193.6 million.
4. Tua Tagovailoa: $186.1 million.
5. Jordan Love: $186 million.
6. Hurts: $184 million.
7. Herbert: $182.6 million.
8. Kirk Cousins: $180 million.
9. Jackson: $179.2 million.
10. Trevor Lawrence: $155.5 million.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the player will cash every check. Jones, for example, has little chance of making the $160 million he was due to earn from 2023 through 2026. Ditto for Cousins and his $180 million in Atlanta.
It’s still a factor. An important one. Along with other important factors, like signing bonus, full guarantee at signing, practical guarantee at signing, and the number of years until the team can activate an escape hatch from the rest of the deal.
For some reason, the media at large only ever looks at new-money APY.
Yes, Mahomes still lags on that factor. But he was due to make more than anyone from 2023 through 2026. And he’s due to make more than anyone from 2024 through 2027.
And that’s still a bargain for the Chiefs and for the NFL.