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Cardinals Sign Red Bryant, Place LaMarr Woodley On IR

NFL News
November 26, 2015

The Cardinals are placing LaMarr Woodley on IR with a chest injury, as Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com writes. To fill the gap, the Cards will sign defensive tackle Red Bryant.

Last season was something of a lost year for Woodley, who spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Steelers. After playing strictly as an outside linebacker in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 scheme, Woodley moved to defensive end in Oakland’s 4-3 look, and didn’t adjust particularly well, ranking 44th out of 59 qualified 4-3 DEs per Pro Football Focus. The Michigan alum played in just six games before tearing his biceps and missing the remainder of the season.

Woodley is no stranger to the disabled list as he missed a total of 14 games from 2011-2013 but still amassed 18 sacks during that span. The three years prior to that were Woodley’s absolute best as he recorded 34.5 sacks and established himself as one of the most nightmare-inducing players for NFL quarterbacks. This year, Woodley appeared in 10 games (7 starts) and totaled just 10 tackles with 1 sack. Woodley’s one-year, minimum deal lapses following the 2015 season and it remains to be seen whether the 31-year-old will stay with Arizona, sign elsewhere, or perhaps even consider retirement given his string of injuries in recent years.

Bryant saw time in all 16 games in his first and only season for the Jaguars in 2014. In total, he racked up 23 tackles to go with one pass deflection and one sack. The 31-year-old graded out as a slightly below-average contributor, according to Pro Football Focus‘ metrics, coming in with a -1.6 grade. Overall, that placed him 31st out of 59 qualified 4-3 defensive ends. Before his season in Jacksonville, Bryant spent six years with the Seahawks, starting all but one regular-season contest for the team from 2011 to 2013. This year, Bryant was set to suit up for the Bills, but he was cut loose in early September.

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