Arizona Cardinals from last season who found new homes

Safety Tre Boston is the latest player to sign with a new organization after spending last season with the Arizona Cardinals

When examining the roster of the 2019 Arizona Cardinals, one can’t help but notice that it has changed dramatically. Sure, a handful of the club’s stalwarts remain. Talented performers like Larry Fitzgerald, Patrick Peterson, David Johnson and Chandler Jones have been kept on board, and rightfully so.

Thanks to free agency, however, a significant number of NFL players get involved in a game of musical chairs during every offseason. As a result, several Cards who were a part of the 2018 squad have moved on. Teams around the league valued their services, so each member of that group will be wearing a different uniform this coming fall.

The latest Cardinal from last season to find employment in a different city is safety Tre Boston. The 27-year old was signed to a one-year contract with the Carolina Panthers, the franchise that drafted him back in 2014. Boston was solid in ’18, racking up 79 tackles, three interceptions and nine passes defensed during his lone campaign with Arizona.

A former first-round selection of the Cards, Deone Bucannon, exited the desert to reunite with two of his former coaches. Old friends Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers invited the inside linebacker to join them in South Florida, where he’ll be handed an opportunity to jumpstart his descending career. Bucannon totaled 404 tackles,12 pass breakups and seven forced fumbles in 70 appearances (56 starts) for Big Red.

Markus Golden, a second-round choice of the organization in 2015, left town to become a member of the New York Giants. The edge rusher will join forces with James Bettcher, who was the 28-year old’s defensive coordinator with Arizona from 2015-17. Golden tallied 122 tackles,19 sacks and six forced fumbles in four campaigns with the Cardinals.

Mike Iupati, a guard who started 39 contests for the Cards from 2015-18, has been inked to a one-year deal by the Seattle Seahawks. Defensive lineman Olsen Pierre, who registered 42 tackles and 5.5 sacks for the club over the past two campaigns, followed fellow defender Golden to the Giants. J.J. Nelson, who competed with Arizona from 2015-18, took his world-class speed and mediocre hands to the Oakland Raiders.

This year’s training camp is full of plenty of unfamiliar faces. Youngsters and veterans that have been brought in to replace the Cardinals who have taken their talents elsewhere. As the old saying goes, out with the old, in with the new.