Arizona Cardinals should move on from Gresham

Arizona Cardinals tight end Jermaine Gresham starts off on wrong foot again

Maybe it was never meant to be? Arizona Cardinals tight end Jermaine Gresham is once again out of practice early on in training camp.

When the Cardinals signed Gresham in 2015 during the free-agency period, the news came with excitement, despite the back injury Gresham was coming off in 2014 with the Cincinnati Bengals. Then came training camp and it all seemed downhill from there.

Gresham started camp last year on the physically unable to perform list. This year, his hamstring is too tight going into the second day of camp and will miss day two of practice.

After catching just 18 passes in his first season with the Cardinals, some thought that maybe the Cardinals should just move on. They have tight ends Ifeanyi Momah returning. He had a great preseason before getting injured prior to the start of the season and going on injured reserve.

Then there was rookie Gerald Christian, who despite being a seventh-round pick, looked well on his way to making impressions and possibly making the team or practice squad. Also add Darren Fells and Troy Niklas into the bunch, it seemed as if Gresham’s time had expired in Arizona.

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Then the Cardinals go and re-sign him to another one-year deal in the offseason. I was taken aback a bit but with the injury bug that hit the tight ends last season it seemed to make sense from that aspect.

Fast forward to today and you have to wonder if re-signing Gresham was in the best interest of the Cardinals and for Gresham for that matter. If he’s healthy I love to watch him. He’s huge, has good hands and can run with the ball.

What difference does all that make though if the guy can’t get on the field? Sure, he played in 15 games last season, starting 12, but look at his production? He had all of one touchdown last season. Even Niklas had two touchdowns and he is more of a blocking-tight end.

If Gresham’s hamstring is going to continue to cause issues, especially this early, maybe it is time to move on. Luckily we have a few weeks to work this out. Personally I hope he returns and kills it on the field. I loved watching him perform with the Bengals. He was on my fantasy team.

Can he stay healthy enough to make a noticeable contribution though? I just don’t know at this point if that is possible for him? The best move is to move on at this point if it isn’t.

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