The unpredictable offseason for the Arizona Cardinals continues with a potential update on Rodney Hudson.
This is one of the most frustrating offseasons the Arizona Cardinals have ever had. From the drama that came from the Kyler Murray contract talks in the winter to the DeAndre Hopkins suspension, and now to the Rodney Hudson news.
Chuck Harris, who covers the Cardinals for USAToday, Tweeted out a possible explanation for Hudson’s absence from mandatory minicamp.
Kelvin Beachum told us that he just recently just had a second child and that the rest would be “handled between him and the organization.”
It’s not the fact that Hudson had another child that’s causing this distress from Cardinals fans. Instead, it’s the potential of getting “Malcolm Butler’d” for the second year in a row in a critical position on the team.
From what I am hearing, Rodney Hudson's absence is because he's contemplating retirement. The why, especially after signing a 3-year $30M extension last April, is unclear. Per OTC, $5M of Hudson's $10.85M salary was gtd. The Cardinals have been aware since before the draft.
— Chuck Harris (@chuckh3) June 22, 2022
Arizona Cardinals center Rodney Hudson is reportedly mulling retirement
As Harris points out, it’s not like money could be a big issue. Unless Hudson thinks that’s not enough for him, which is potentially realistic. Perhaps it is a family reason, which is 100 percent respectable.
I guess what really makes this is frustrating is that last sentence; that the Arizona Cardinals had known about this before the draft even started. So let me ask a very important question:
The Cardinals have an above-average depth at wide receiver without Hopkins. So why would you willingly trade out of the first round when Tyler Linderbaum was going to fall to you?
Is Keim snakebitten by Jonathan Cooper in 2013? Why have the Cardinals failed to invest in their offensive line? It’s borderline draft negligence to go out and trade for Marquise Brown when this news is out there.
The Cardinals saw how bad everything got when Hudson missed time. So was the Brown move to get Cardinals fans distracted while a much bigger issue was developing?
This is frustrating, if not approaching infuriating, with how Keim’s approached this offseason. How was this conducive to garnering a five-year extension?
Whatever happens, I wish Hudson the best. For the rest of the Cardinals, it’s time to strap up your boots and get some work done.