The Arizona Cardinals have agreed to acquire veteran center Rodney Hudson from the Las Vegas Raiders with a draft pick change. informs Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network i Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Schefter adds that the exchange is for a third-round pick from Arizona going to Las Vegas. The Cardinals will receive a selection of Raiders from the seventh round.
Las Vegas was reportedly ready to release Hudson before the trade was settled just before the 1 p.m. MST deadline for the NFL league’s new year.
Hudson, 31, is a three-time Pro Bowler (2016-17, 2019) and was second in the All-Pro team in 2019.
The Cardinals will sign a two-year deal for Hudson, including 2021.
Hudson will play a starting role ahead of returning centers Mason Cole and Lamont Gaillard.
Last season he posted a 73.6 rating on Pro Football Focus, well above the website ranking for Cole (54.4) and Gaillard (48.1).
Not a surprising move for the Cardinals after game coordinator and offensive line coach Sean Kugler suggested in February that the status quo was not good enough.
It effectively opened the initial role as a center after Cole and Gaillard had their ups and downs in 2020.
“Both guys played really well sometimes … both guys had a hard time, being young players,” Kugler said. “The central position in general I think needs to take the next step, to improve.”
Cole fell in Week 1 with an injury and Gaillard was spelled relatively well for two weeks. Gaillard did enough throughout the year to gain more significant snapshots in the last month of 2020.
By the end of the season, Cole, Arizona’s 2018 third-round pick, had played 914 snapshots at 219. Gaillard was selected for the sixth round by Arizona in 2019.
The duo combined for seven penalties, although they were far from the only players affected by offensive line penalties.
Perhaps the Cardinals saw the loss of the voice of veteran AQ Shipley center in the room after the 2019 season as a reason for the increase in errors along the line.
In any case, it is clear that Arizona prioritizes the growth of third-year quarterback Kyler Murray.
Arizona last month prioritized improving the trenches. General manager Steve Keim started the offseason by signing defensive lineman JJ Watt and keeping top runners Markus Golden and Dennis Gardeck.
Although the Cardinals lost or pulled out of the race to land the highest center on the market (former Packers center Corey Linsley signed a record deal with the Los Angeles Chargers) they have now strengthened their lineup.
The Cardinals could make more decisions right downtown, even after re-signing Kelvin Beachum.
Right guard JR Sweezy, who lost his starting role with Justin Murray last year, is also a free agent.
