Trade for Robbie Anderson shows Arizona Cardinals aren’t giving up
By Jim Koch
The Arizona Cardinals acquired wideout Robbie Anderson to help the offense deal with the loss of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
All hope looked lost for the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday following their 19-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The depressing defeat that the Cards suffered at the hands of a division rival was bad enough, but the ugly-looking injury that sent wideout Marquise Brown limping to the locker room was almost too much to handle.
With Brown’s prognosis not looking very positive, Steve Keim went out and made a proactive move on Monday. The Cardinals general manager sent a pair of future draft picks to the Carolina Panthers for Robbie Anderson, a disgruntled wide receiver who was in dire need of a change of scenery.
There are indications that Brown’s injured foot could sideline him anywhere between six weeks to the remainder of the season. So the trade for Anderson will certainly help to soften that blow.
Arizona’s acquisition of the speedy Anderson was basically a no-brainer. The club sent a sixth-round draft pick in 2024 and a seventh-round choice in 2025 for the rights to the 29-year old. In addition, the Cards will pay Anderson just under $700,000 for the final 11 games, an absolute bargain for a pass-catcher who has 368 receptions and 29 touchdowns on his NFL resume.
Arizona Cardinals acquired wideout Robbie Anderson at just the right time
Many Cardinals fans were looking forward to this coming Thursday, when star receiver DeAndre Hopkins returns from his six-game suspension. A passing attack featuring the five-time Pro Bowler and “Hollywood” Brown was something that the “Red Sea” could get excited about. That no longer looks like a possibility, but a Hopkins-Anderson combination could also create some mismatches for the Redbirds scoring attack.
After going undrafted back in 2016, Anderson signed a free-agent contract with the New York Jets. The 6 foot 3, 190 pounder left the “Big Apple” in April of 2020, when he inked a two-year, $20 million deal with Carolina. In August of 2021, the Panthers handed Anderson a two-year, $29.5 million extension that will run through the 2023 campaign.
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The addition of Anderson shows that Arizona’s front office is not ready to throw in the towel after a 2-4 start. Kudos to Keim for not standing pat, and at the same time keeping hope alive for Cardinals fans everywhere.
(Information provided by Pro Football Reference and Spotrac.com)