Arizona Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur explains lack of waiver claims

Every NFL team is obviously different, but I’ve always wondered about the wisdom of exercising waiver claims after all that goes into cutting to 53 each year.

For every player claimed, obviously, a player who hoped they had made the team the day before has to depart the roster in exchange for someone new, which is in stark contrast to a player who has often been with the team for four months through offseason workouts, OTAs, minicamp and training camp.

One day a player was good enough to be on the 53 and the next day, it’s “see ya later,” although the practice squad does often beckon.

Cardinals fans and some in the media lost their minds Monday when the team wasn’t assigned any players on waivers. Yet, of the close to 800 players placed on waivers Sunday, only 29 were assigned to new teams. It’s not exactly a long list of budding NFL contributors,

That was led by the Miami Dolphins, which claimed a whopping seven players, a number that represents 13.2 percent of the 53-man roster.

Naturally, the noise-making fans didn’t acknowledge the acquisition in a trade for veteran blocking tight end Hunter Long, who was with the Los Angeles Rams in 2023-24 when head coach Mike LaFleur was the team’s offensive coordinator. Guess that doesn’t fit the narrative and doesn’t count.

Then, on Tuesday, the Cardinals signed two players to the practice squad that had been waived Sunday: defensive lineman Jared Harrison-Hunte from Carolina and offensive lineman Vershon Lee from Minnesota.

In effect, those are virtually the same as waiver claims, but allow the team to get a closer look at new players without taking up an active roster spot. The Cardinals also have two players on the practice squad that arrived on waivers during training camp: running back Evan Hull and defensive lineman Cam Horsley.

LaFleur explained the thinking Monday when asked if adding no players by waiver claims showed how they feel about the roster and weren’t looking to make those moves.

He said, “Well, I wouldn’t say (that, but) … yes we do like who we have, but you’re always trying to upgrade the roster. But you have to say, ‘Is this guy one do we think he is going to upgrade the roster?’ and two if it’s close; the time on task that you have with the guys currently in the building compared to a guy coming off the street that has to learn our building, have to learn the coach, have to learn the scheme, all those kind of things.

“So, there’s a lot that goes into it to decide if you’re going to swap someone out.”

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur explains lack of waiver claims