Wilks: Spot needed, so Bradford let go

Three starts, two touchdowns and more than 13 million dollars later, quarterback Sam Bradford is finished in Arizona.

Two days after his release on Saturday, coach Steve Wilks explained that the move wasn’t performance-based. Wilks, who was involved in the decision, said it came down to opening up a roster spot.

“From a standpoint of need position-wise throughout the year, particularly this time when guys are getting hurt, we did what we thought was best for the team,” he said Monday. “We needed that position to be able to add quality depth at different positions on the team.”

The Cardinals also announced on Saturday that offensive lineman John Wetzel was placed on the injured reserve with a season-ending neck injury.

Wetzel started five games this season, filling in at right guard, left guard and right tackle.

Wilks knows the loss further thins the depth on the offensive line, but he didn’t allow himself much time to dwell on that.

“(Wetzel) brought so much position flexibility, being able to play tackle as well as moving inside at guard,” Wilks said. “But again, with pro personnel, Steve Keim and those guys, I think we’ve brought some quality guys in. So, we’ll see here moving forward.”

Bradford cleared waivers, according to Field Yates of ESPN, and can now sign with another team.

Any team that picks him up take on some of that contract.

Still, Wilks reiterated that the reason for the release was not about Bradford’s attitude or production during practice.

He said he was still impressed by the nine-year veteran, even once Bradford was moved to backup.

“I’d say that Sam is the ultimate pro, the way he handled the situation,” Wilks said. “I think you guys know from Day 1, when I stood up here, as well as in there, I told you Sam was our quarterback. It was his job to lose, and we gave him every opportunity.

“When I made the decision to move forward with Josh (Rosen), he didn’t waver in his commitment to this team. will He still came in here and worked hard each and every day, and he did everything he could to help mentor that room. So, I commend him for that. Again, I would just say it was the decision that we thought was best for this team.”

The Cardinals moved quickly to revamp the roster. On Monday, the team re-signed wide receiver Kendall Wright and signed offensive lineman Zack Golditch to the 53-man roster.

Wright, a six-year veteran, first signed with the Cardinals on Oct. 8. He was inactive for one game prior to being released ten days later. Wide receiver Chad Williams did not practice Monday but said it’s no concern.

Whether or not Williams returns to practice later this week, Wilks said he hopes to get Wright move involved this time, thinking he can be a bigger factor.

“He has shown that in the past, and that’s the reason why we keep bringing him back,” Wilks said. “Hopefully, we can be able to give him the opportunities. Again, some question with depth there this week. We wanted to be able to bring him in just in case.”

Golditch is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Colorado State. He entered the league with the Chargers and was signed off of the Colts’ practice squad. Golditch is a native of Aurora, Colo., and survived being shot in the neck during the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting.

Extra rest

The Cardinals got last Wednesday off, giving players an extra day to recover following a win over the 49ers.

“(There were) a lot of injuries. I wanted to be able to give the guys an opportunity to recover,” Wilks said on the decision to cancel practice. “Wanted to go out there, like we did on Tuesday, to get some work done. I thought we got quality work done, and I knew we were going to have an extra day this week with Monday.”

Right guard Justin Pugh felt good about the progress on his broken hand and is hoping to pare down his cast to something lighter. Outside of Wetzel, Wilks feels good about the progress of the injured offensive line as a whole.

“For the most part, everybody should be back (Sunday),” Wilks said. “Tre (Boston) is looking good. Talking to Tom Reed, the trainer, I think we should have everybody back in the fold this week, but I’ll give you more details on Wednesday.”