The Arizona Cardinals added a couple of players to their roster on Thursday
The Arizona Cardinals are wasting no time. On Thursday they added two players who could make a huge impact on the team in 2017.
The Cardinals added punter Richie Leone, recently of the CFL. They also added receiver Aaron Dobson who last played for the New England Patriots. He actually spent time with the Detroit Lions more recently than the Patriots but did not play in any games.
The Cardinals punting issues are well documented. They went through three punters in 2016. They started with Drew Butler, waived him, went to Ryan Quigley, went back to Butler, before finishing off the season with Matt Wile.
Wile had a punt blocked last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. He wasn’t horrible but it is clear the Cardinals are still trying to fix the punting issues.
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Leone has averaged over 49-yards per punt each of the last two seasons for the BC Lions. It doesn’t matter which league that is in, that is impressive. It certainly beats anything produced out of Arizona recently.
As for Dobson, he comes with NFL experience and could be a nice addition to the receiving core. The Cardinals will still likely add a couple of more receivers either in the draft or through free agency. His best season with the Patriots was in 2013 when he caught 37 passes for 519-yards and four touchdowns.
What was once one of the deepest positions on the roster is now in need of a slight rebuild, espeically if Larry Fitzgerald retires. If Fitz returns, the Cardinals still need to protect themselves with the position beyond the 2017 season.
Even if neither one of the moves works out, at least the signings this week prove the Cardinals aren’t waiting around to take action. All they can do is kick doors down and try. So far, so good.