Arizona Cardinals lose Penny to Giants

The Arizona Cardinals lost the running back off the practice squad on Tuesday

The unfortunate part of having a practice squad is you can lose a player at anytime to another team.  That’s exactly what happened to the Arizona Cardinals on Tuesday.

The Cardinals, who cut running back Elijhaa Penny at the end of the preseason and then signed him back to the practice squad, lost him to the New York Giants.  The Giants added him to their roster on Tuesday.

Penny became a victim of numbers and in part, scheme.  Last season and seasons in recent past, the Cardinals kept four running backs on the 53-man roster.

With the addition of the fullback position this year in the new offense built by offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, the fullback position took away one of those running backs.  Penny was the fourth man, so he was the odd man out at the final cuts before Labor Day weekend.

In the offseason it did seem that although Penny had a chance to carry the ball over the last couple of weeks of the 2017 season for the Cardinals due to injury, that with backs David Johnson and T.J. Logan returning, it was going to be difficult for Penny to break the 53-man roster this season.

That held true and he ended up on the practice squad.  Players on practice squads are unprotected and be claimed by any of the other 31 teams.  If claimed, said player must be added to that team’s 53-man roster.

So now Penny could get a chance to play with the Giants.  We’ll see if he gets to be active anytime soon.  For now, while disappointed that Penny didn’t get a further chance to play in Arizona, the Giants may give Penny the chance he deserves.

Penny starts as fourth on the halfback depth chart in New York behind Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman, and Jonathan Stewart.  We wish him the best of luck with the Giants.