The numbers — beyond just the outside linebackers room — predicted that there would be some familiar names that weren’t going to stick with the Cardinals this season.
Furthering a roster in the image of what coach Jonathan Gannon ultimately wants also was going to play into shaping Tuesday’s moves to get to the final 53. That started when the team traded Cameron Thomas to the Kansas City Chiefs for a seventh-round draft pick in 2025, a deal among the team’s transactions that signaled Thomas wasn’t going to make the team.
Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck are slated as the starters, likely with Victor Dimukeje, Jesse Luketa and rookie Xavier Thomas behind them. Inside linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. will also see some snaps off the edge. What happens with further moves — and potential waiver claims — could still change things.
Thomas played well the final two preseason games and gathered three sacks. But it was clear with his late game reps and the amount of reps he had that he was battling for a roster spot. The season-ending injury to BJ Ojulari created opportunity, but the good preseason from Xavier Thomas changed the equation.
The rookie is more of a pure pass rusher, but the rest of the outside linebacking corps can help in both the rush and in coverage in the multiple things desired from defensive coordinator Nick Rallis. Cameron Thomas had been a healthy inactive the final two games in 2023, a precursor toward the climb he faced this season.
Last season, Thomas had no sacks and three tackles for loss playing 35 percent of the defensive snaps in 15 games. The Chiefs run a 4-3 scheme, which will give Thomas a chance to play as a down lineman.
The pick gives the Cardinals a seventh-rounder in 2025 when they didn’t have one. They had dealt away their original 2025 seventh-rounder to Carolina in the trade for wide receiver Robbie Anderson in 2022.
