No indications Cardinals willing to trade Patrick Peterson.
MINNEAPOLIS – A few Cardinals players have been linked to trade rumors during the past several days in advance of the NFL’s trade deadline Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. (Arizona time).
Linebackers Haason Reddick and Deone Bucannon have been mentioned the most, particularly in speculation stories by Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. Citing league sources, La Canfora on Sunday also wrote that the Cardinals are now “willing to move” All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson.
Trading Peterson would free up some $11 million in cap space, but there have been no indications the Cardinals are interested in trading him. Peterson recently told azcentral sports he was fully committed to the team, even though he admits it is difficult dealing with the prospects of finishing with the fifth losing season in his eight years with the organization.
After Sunday’s game, Peterson said he had been unaware of the report.
“This is something that is out of my control,” he said. “I want to continue to do whatever I need to do to help this team win ball games.”
Asked about the report after the game, coach Steve Wilks said, “I don’t respond to things that are ludicrous.”
Last week, Cardinals running back David Johnson was also the subject of trade speculation as a report out of Philadelphia suggested he could be dealt to the Eagles. Johnson called it “false news” and laughed it off.
Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim, meanwhile, responded to some of the trade speculation Friday during his weekly appearance with Doug and Wolf on the team’s flagship radio station, Arizona Sports 98.7-FM.
“The one part of my job is to have dialogue with other teams when it comes to trades and different transactions,” Keim said.
“Number 1, the one thing I won’t do is confirm or deny those in public. I will tell you it’s a lot of gossip, people enjoy it, it’s water cooler talk. A lot of the stuff that you’ll read is certainly false.
“I know that on Wednesday I woke up to three different names that were brought to my attention and those conversations never happened. I would say to most fans to tread lightly when it comes to trade talks because very rarely are those accurate.”
Iupati, Pugh injured
Starting left guard Mike Iupati left the game late in the first half with a back injury and did not return. He was replaced by Jeremy Vujnovich, who had to leave himself in the fourth quarter because of a hamstring injury.
Tackle John Wetzel came in and finished the game for Vujnovich, but the Cardinals also lost starting right tackle Justin Pugh to a left-hand injury in the fourth quarter. Daniel Munyer replaced him, leaving the team with no other offensive linemen on the active game-day roster in case of another injury.
Blaine Clausell and rookie Korey Cunningham were inactive.
Right tackle Andre Smith, meanwhile, was playing with an injured elbow that he had heavily wrapped.
“You get to the point where you hope you don’t get another injury,” Wilks said. “We have a short week. We need to try to get these guys back as soon as possible and get ready for the Broncos.”
The Cardinals play the Broncos on Thursday night at State Farm Stadium.
Bradford inactive again
For the third consecutive week, former starting quarterback Sam Bradford was inactive and did not suit up.