Cardinals Unlikely To Bring Back G Jonathan Cooper, Even With Injuries At Guard

Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic mentioned earlier in the day that he can’t see the Cardinals bringing back G Jonathan Cooper, even after he was waived by the Patriots on Saturday.

The Cardinals are dealing with issues at guard and have already placed Evan Mathis on injured reserve, so it seemed like something Arizona could consider. However, Somers points to the fact that Cooper has dealt with a number of injuries and hasn’t shown he can stay healthy and play through pain.

Cooper, 26, is a former first-round pick of the Cardinals back in 2013. He was in the final year of his four-year, $14,549,000 rookie contract that included $14,549,000 guaranteed and was set to make a base salary of $675,000 for the 2016 season when he was waived earlier in the day.

The Cardinals traded him to the Patriots as part of the Chandler Jones‘ trade. Although, New England declined to pick up Cooper’s fifth-year option back in May, so the trade with the Cardinals was really about freeing up some cap space and acquiring a draft pick in the process.

In 2015, Cooper appeared in 14 games for the Cardinals and was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 41 guard out of 81 qualifying players.