2025 Arizona Cardinals offseason roster profile: EDGE Dennis Gardeck
We will look at their 2024 season, their contract status and what their status is for the coming offseason and 2025 season.
Next up is outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck.
Gardeck was another Cardinals player felled by the injury bug in 2024. He suffered a torn ACL on Oct. 21 in the Monday night game against the Los Angeles Chargers after playing in seven games with three starts. He was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 25. In 207 snaps (45 percent), Gardeck had 20 tackles (five solo/six for loss), 3.0 sacks for 19 yards, one pressure, four quarterback hits and one interception. All three sacks came in a Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Rams. He also had one forced fumble and two passes defensed. On special teams, Gardeck also played 69 snaps (40 percent).
Unfortunately for Gardeck, his contract is expiring and he will become an unrestricted free agent on March 12.
Gardeck's status is highly in doubt because of the injury. ACL recovery usually is a minimum of nine months, which takes him to late July. It seems unlikely he would receive a contract offer from the Cardinals or another team while he is rehabbing.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: 2025 Arizona Cardinals offseason roster profile: EDGE Dennis Gardeck
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals 53-man roster projections after 1 week of training camp
The first week of training camp is in the books for the Cardinals. Here is what the 53-man roster might look like today. The Arizona Cardinals began training camp this week and the battle for the 53-man roster has commenced. There have been highlights and injuries. Cornerback Star Thomas is out for the season with an ACL tear. Rookie defensive lineman Walter Nolen has a calf injury that could keep him out of all of camp. Veteran defensive lineman Bilal Nichols still hasn't recovered from the neck injury he suffered in Week 6. With a couple of practices in the books, this is our first attempt to predict the 53-man roster, based on what we know. Arizona Cardinals 53-man roster projection after first week of training camp This is easy. Murray and Brissett are locks. Clayton Tune's best chance is for the practice squad. The Cardinals have not had more than two quarterbacks on the active roster since Jonathan Gannon became head coach. This room feels set as well. While many would like to see Michael Carter push for a spot, he isn't going to beat out Benson for the primary back to Conner, he isn't going to beat out Demercado for the third-down role with special teams and isn't going to beat out Dallas for the kick return/special teams ace role. Fehoko is an intriguing option with length and speed, but he doesn't offer much on special teams. $1 million of his salary is guaranteed. One of these guys will be inactive on game days. Josiah Deguara is an intriguing option because of his special teams play, but he would have to be the No. 3 tight end on the roster to be worth keeping because the Cardinals never have four tight ends active in a game, and what is the point of a special teams ace that isn't active? The numbers will be tough here. The top six are locks. Beachum is the backup swing tackle. Gaines will be the backup center and then Leverett can play all over the line. Conner is developmental. Could they keep 10? That could include second-year tackle Christian Jones, rookie tackle Josh Fryar or veteran Royce Newman. Nolen doesn't make the roster because I predict he will start the season on PUP and will be out at least four weeks. If he is going to miss all of camp, he probably will not have enough reps to be ready for the season. His roster spot will be a future problem, when it would make more sense to cut Collier, who has $750,000 in guaranteed salary. That will have been paid out in the first seven weeks. Also, I am also predicting that Nichols' neck injury will keep him from playing. That makes six players for six spots easy. Xavier Thomas gets bumped from the roster. Ojulari is on PUP still recovering from his torn ACL, so that will be something to watch. Four of these five slots feel like easy choices. Do they keep four or five? Walker gives them special teams play. Thomas' injury makes the starting lineup easy, but the two backup spots will be between Clark, Burke (a rookie) and 2024 third-round pick Elijah Jones. Jones gets bumped. Blount beats out rookie Kitan Crawford. These are set. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Cardinals lose starting cornerback Starling Thomas to torn ACL
Cardinals cornerback Starling Thomas suffered a serious knee injury during Friday's practice. Tests revealed that Thomas has a torn ACL, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. That almost certainly means he will miss the entire season. Originally an undrafted rookie out of UAB, Thomas spent training camp with the Lions in 2023 but didn't make their roster. The Cardinals claimed him on waivers and he played surprisingly well as a rookie and even better in his second season in 2024. Last year Thomas played in all 17 games, with 15 starts, and played the most snaps of any cornerback on the team. The Cardinals may now be in the market to pick up another cornerback, as they were counting on Thomas to play a big role this year. He's a big loss.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Star Thomas injury: How it impacts the Arizona Cardinals' CB competition
Thomas' injury means the starting lineup looks clear and there are two spots for three players to fight for. The Arizona Cardinals lost a potential starting cornerback for the season for the second time on Friday. After Sean Murphy-Bunting had an offseason knee injury that landed him on the NFI (non-football injury) list, ending his season, Star Thomas V tore his ACL on Friday in training camp. This impacts the position battle for both starting roles and players battling simply for roster spots. Let's take a look at the impact. Star Thomas injury: How it impacts the starting lineup We can presume that Garrett Williams has the nickel cornerback job locked down. Last season, Murphy-Bunting, Thomas and 2024 second-round pick Max Melton rotated the two boundary cornerback jobs, with Thomas and Murphy-Bunting getting more playing time. Entering camp, the battle was between Thomas, Melton and rookie Will Johnson, the Cardinals' second-round pick this year. Now, with Thomas out for the season, unless a player like 2024 third-round Elijah Jones, who was on inured reserve all last season, Kei'Trel Clark or rookie fifth-round pick Denzel Burke can push their way into the starting conversation, the two outside corner starters will be Melton and Johnson. The Cardinals could also bring in a veteran. Star Thomas injury: How it impacts the depth Last season, the Cardinals kept five cornerbacks on the roster. Before Thomas got hurt, it looked like he would have been a lock for the roster unless he got traded, and he would have been a player with a little bit of trade value. That would have left one roster spot available for Clark, Burke and Jones. Now there are two roster spots for the three players. Clark played some last year and head coach Jonathan Gannon noted he was having a good camp so far. Burke is a rookie and Jones didn't play last season because he was on injured reserve. The injury also could open the door for Jaylon Jones, signed in the offseason but has been more a special teams player in his career, to have a better chance at cracking the roster. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
