NFC West Notes: Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

• Per Darren Urban of the team website, new Cardinals DT Jordan Phillips said he asked Miami for his release or trade two years ago which resulted in getting claimed off waivers by the Bills and rejuvenating his career last season: “What helped my career the most was leaving there.”
• Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio points out neither Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins nor Texans RB David Johnson has technically passed a physical yet, meaning the trade being voided isn’t yet out of the question. 
• Utah DT Leki Fotu had a Top 30 visit scheduled with the Cardinals before the shutdown. (Justin Melo)

Rams

• The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia says there’s too much noise around a potential trade of Rams WR Brandin Cooks for the team not to be shopping him, and adds an exchange with the Packers of Cooks for a 2020 fourth-round pick and 2021 conditional pick could be enough to get the deal done. 
• While Cooks has been traded twice for a first-round pick, his concussion issues in 2019 have likely dropped his value. However, Kapadia says he still makes sense for the Packers as they look to maximize their window to win with 36-year-old QB Aaron Rodgers. 
• Per ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry, Rams HC Sean McVay said releasing RB Todd Gurley was part of a bigger puzzle for the Rams, not due to any one particular thing: “To say one thing goes in that wouldn’t be accurate.”
• McVay said he, the team and particularly Rams DT Aaron Donald were thrilled to be able to bring back DT Michael Brockers: “Aaron was finally talking to me again.” (Thiry)
• Utah DT Leki Fotu had a Top 30 visit scheduled with the Rams before the shutdown. (Justin Melo)

Seahawks

• The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia thinks the Saints could explore a trade for G Larry Warford based on reports the team thought his play slipped last season. If that’s the case, he says sending Warford to the Seahawks for a third-round pick would make sense. 
• If the Seahawks can’t bring back DE Jadeveon Clowney, they could take the money they have earmarked for that and use it on Warford and DE Everson Griffen, upgrading both their lines with the same money while still having two picks each in the second and fourth rounds. 
• Utah DT Leki Fotu had a Top 30 visit scheduled with the Seahawks before the shutdown. (Justin Melo)