Former Cardinals tight end is heading to the AFC South
By Adam Patrick
Former Arizona Cardinals tight end Dan Arnold was traded by the Carolina Panthers to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday.
The tight end position has long been one of the weakest position groups in the history of the Arizona Cardinals. So when tight end Dan Arnold had a semi-decent for the Cardinals in 2020, it was a little surprising to see the team not make a better effort to keep him around this year.
Instead of remaining with Arizona, Arnold ended up signing a two-year contract with the Carolina Panthers worth $6 million.
However, it appears as though his tenure with the Panthers has already come to an end as Carolina decided to trade the former Cardinals tight end on Monday.
Former Arizona Cardinals tight end traded to Jacksonville Jaguars
Arnold will now be joining his third team in the last calendar year following the Panthers’ decision on Monday to trade him to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Carolina acquired cornerback C.J. Henderson and a 2022 fifth-round draft pick in exchange for the former Arizona tight end and a 2022 third-round draft selection.
With the Panthers losing rookie corner Jaycee Horn for the next few weeks due to an injured foot, they clearly felt they needed to add more talent to their current group of cornerbacks. Henderson was the No. 9 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Jaguars and there have been rumors of the team potentially trading him for the last few weeks.
Following the unexpected retirement of Malcolm Butler before the start of the regular season, some might have thought the Cardinals should have been a team in the running to acquire Henderson. But that obviously isn’t going to happen anymore.
Instead, one of Arizona’s former players ends up being involved in the trade to send Henderson to Carolina. Once a member of a 3-0 Panthers team, Arnold is now moving on to a Jacksonville team that just saw their record fall to 0-3 after a 31-19 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday.