NFC Notes: Cardinals, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

Cardinals’ GM Steve Keim compared rookie LB Victor Dimukeje to LB Markus Golden when speaking about the young pass rusher. Arizona had a heavy interest in Dimukeje during the draft process and had several conversations with him about where he would fit in defensively. 

“He reminds us a little bit of Markus Golden when you look at the way he plays the game,” Keim said, via Alex Weiner of SI.com. “High motor, great intensity. Around 6-foot-2, but has really long arms, plays with great leverage, and has some niftiness about him as a pass rusher. His sack production has been good. He plays with a high motor. He’s consistent, he’s smart, he does all the right things. And that’s, to me, what you look for in a guy who could potentially not only play on special teams but play a certain role defensively.”

• Now that the period to sign qualifying free agents is over, Over The Cap’s Nick Korte projects the Cardinals to receive a fifth and two seventh-round compensatory picks for the loss of CB Patrick Peterson, DL Angelo Blackson and TE Dan Arnold. 
• The Athletic’s Jeff Howe says the Saints and Cardinals had a deal in place to swap picks in the first round if QB Mac Jones got past the Patriots at No. 15. 

49ers

49ers GM John Lynch said 49ers WR Jalen Hurd is expected to be “ready to go” after recovering from his torn ACL sustained in last year’s training camp.

“Jalen’s rehab is going well. We’re eager to get him back here because he’s been rehabbing away. But we check in regularly, and he’s doing a nice job with his rehab, so we’re excited about that. I think Jalen’s always been a hard worker, and has just had some tough luck with that stuff. He’ll continue to work hard, and we think he’ll be ready to go,” said Lynch, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com.

Lynch also said OT Shon Coleman has been “really looking good” this offseason after opting out of last season in addition to missing 2019 with a broken fibula and ankle injury.

“He’s been here a lot this offseason, and he’s really looking good,” Lynch said. “Just out in workouts, which we’ll see once we get on the field. But Shon’s doing a nice job. We’re pleased with that.”

• Now that the period to sign qualifying free agents is over, Over The Cap’s Nick Korte projects the 49ers to receive two seventh-round compensatory picks for the loss of DEs Solomon Thomas and Kerry Hyder. 
• The 49ers gave undrafted LB Justin Hilliard $125,000 guaranteed, including $95,000 of his base salary and a $30,000 signing bonus. (Aaron Wilson)

Rams

Ravens CB Marcus Peters still isn’t over the Rams trading him to Baltimore in 2019.

“F— them,” Peters said, via Pro Football Talk. “I felt disrespected. In the sense of, yeah, you can trade me. That’s part of the business. But two minutes after that, you bring in another guy who do the same s— I do, maybe a little bit different. If we want to play this compare game, I do a little bit more. That s— was disrespectful to me.”

Seahawks

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said new OC Shane Waldron‘s desire to have a downfield passing attack is part of a reason the team drafted WR D’Wayne Eskridge and signed TE Gerald Everett.

“Shane has talked since we first started talking about schematically how we’re going about it, philosophically how we’re going about the offense about having three legitimate threats in passing situations so a defense can’t lock you down,” Carroll said, via Pro Football Talk. “It was one of the reasons Gerald was such a big get for us, was such a great acquisition for us in the offseason to help us. But we always want to have three guys out there that they have to work with and contend with so they can’t just double guys up and take them out of the offense.”

“We’ll find out how well D’Wayne fits it in that regard but we’re counting on him being a factor.”