The Arizona Cardinals were the busiest team in the NFL in picking up players off the waiver wire, pacing the NFL with six. There are some names that you may find familiar, but if you haven’t heard of them, you may if they indeed head into the season as part of the Redbirds final, final 53-man roster.
Or, final as of heading into Week 1 before the names likely change more than a few times as the 2023 season progresses. But you get what I’m saying. So who did the Cards pick up earlier today and who are the most intriguing players on the list?
Arizona Cardinals picked up a multitude of intriguing names off waivers
With Jon Gaines out for the year and Pat Elflein on IR, the Redbirds needed a center, so they claimed Trystan Colon-Castillo. Between 2020 and 2022 Colon-Castillo saw the field in 20 career games and started four of them. Per Pro-Football-Reference, he committed just two penalties, and that should be good news for Cardinals fans.
Keith Ismael is another center coming to the desert, and he saw playing time in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, Ismael recorded five starts and saw action in 10 games across 382 snaps. He also has just one penalty to his name per Pro-Football-Reference.
K’Von Wallace is a familiar name to head coach Jonathan Gannon, having played for the Philadelphia Eagles between 2020 and 2022. Last season, the safety logged one start for Gannon’s defense, and he recorded 42 combined tackles in 17 appearances, plus one tackle behind the line. Wallace has struggled in pass coverage, however, allowing a 127.4 quarterback rating when targeted.
Starling Thomas is a rookie corner who went undrafted this past April, along with offensive tackle Ilm Manning. Manning could be a diamond in the rough, so keep an eye out for him.
And finally, there is Elijah Higgins, who the Miami Dolphins drafted in the sixth round this past April. Higgins is listed as a tight end, but his 4.54 time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and marginal size (6’3, 234) means he could factor in as a tweener.
Source: Report: Cardinals claim 6 players off waivers, focusing on center depth by Arizona Sports
(All statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference)