It’s fair to say that the Arizona Cardinals have surpassed expectations to start the season. Many had them pegged as being one of the worst teams the NFL had to offer during the 2023 season, but they’ve seemingly held their own, even with coming off a 26-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 6.
The Cardinals stand at 1-5, but they’ve been largely competitive to start the season under first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon. With Josh Dobbs leading the first-team offense, the Cardinals have gotten more out of that side of the football than anyone could have envisioned, especially in the absence of Kyler Murray. But at the same time, the loss of James Connor seems to have compounded the team’s talent deficiency, as Arizona has now lost three straight since upsetting the Dallas Cowboys.
And as the Cardinals look towards the future, they plan on losing something else. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday that the team is planning to cut linebacker Myjai Sanders. The team’s third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Sanders will be subject to waivers barring a last-minute offer.
Cardinals are planning to cut LB Myjai Sanders, their 2022 third-round pick, barring a last-minute offer, per league source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 17, 2023
The NFL world was quick to react to the major Arizona Cardinals’ announcement.
Sure, I’ll take this as an opportunity to remind you how incomprehensibly bad at evaluating and drafting players Steve Keim was, particularly for a dude who lasted a decade on the job. https://t.co/M0NBlR1h4H
— Jody Oehler (@radiojody) October 17, 2023
Monti is tossing all of Steve Keim's draft picks in the recycle bin. https://t.co/KhebFs8OIt
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) October 17, 2023
Unsurprisingly, another Keim pick ends up becoming worthless. https://t.co/SguKVnvTBQ
— Alex D’Agostino (@AlexDagAZ) October 17, 2023
Cardinals have many LBs. Sanders never really made an impact since being drafted so this makes sense. https://t.co/QciYUgThMZ
— Alex Clancy (@ClancysCorner) October 17, 2023
Jam packed pass rush room. Another Steve Keim pick cast off from the new Arizona Cardinals regime. https://t.co/IKTtRpD5hA
— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) October 17, 2023
Whew. The pick was basically what they got back from Baltimore for sending their 1st to BAL for Hollywood.
Now Brown hasn’t been extended yet and Sanders is gone. https://t.co/wuQjT8ro5R
— Blake Allen Murphy (@blakemurphy7) October 17, 2023
Interesting news here but not totally surprised.
The OLB room is quite crowded to begin with, https://t.co/Ahw1og9X4L
— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) October 17, 2023
His injury probably bought him some time coming out of camp. https://t.co/OpUWQzBzJ2
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) October 17, 2023
Sanders would be the second linebacker that Arizona has moved on from since the start of the season. The Cardinals previously traded Isaiah Simmons to the New York Giants.
The former University of Cincinnati standout seems to have fallen out of favor with a staff who did not draft him, even though he has yet to appear in a game this season. Sanders has spent the first five weeks on injured reserve and was only designated to return to practice last week. Now, he’ll be searching for his second home in as many seasons.
[Adam Schefter on Twitter]
