The Cardinals have waived 27-year old fullback Reagan Maui’a.  He played in 3 games for the Cardinals this year and he caught 1 pass for 12 yards.  Maui’a has now played in 34 games in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 4 times for 5 yards (1.3 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 37 yards (7.4 avg) in his career so far.  This isn’t a big loss for the Cardinals going forward.

The Cardinals have released 24-year old WR Max Komar with an injury settlement (left knee).  Komar played in 8 games as a rookie for the Cardinals last year and he caught 12 passes for 117 yards (9.8 avg).  He also returned 5 punts for 31 yards (6.2 avg) for the Cardinals last season.  The Cardinals won’t miss Komar too much going forward, as they are set at WR for 2011.

The Cardinals have released 29-year old TE Stephen Spach.  Spach played in 15 games (11 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he caught 7 passes for 40 yards (5.7 avg).  He played in 31 games (22 starts) in his three years with the Cardinals and he caught 13 passes for 93 yards (7.2 avg).  This isn’t much of a loss for the Cardinals as Spach isn’t much of a threat in the passing game.

The Cardinals have released 37-year old punter Ben Graham.  Graham played in 36 games in his three years with the Cardinals and he punted the ball 200 times for 8,964 yards (44.8 avg).  He also had only 12 touchbacks (6%) and he placed the ball inside the opposing 20-yard line 78 times (39%) in his time with the Cardinals.  He was beaten out by Dave Zastudil.

UPDATE:  (10/5/2011) – The Cardinals have re-signed Ben Graham as Dave Zastudil is having problems with one of his knees.

The Cardinals have waived 24-year old WR Max Komar.  Komar played in 8 games as a rookie last year for the Cardinals and he caught 12 passes for 117 yards (9.8 avg) without a TD catch.  Komar didn’t have much of a chance to make the Cardinals’ in 2011 and a lingering knee injury didn’t help his cause.  The Cardinals won’t miss Komar too much as they are pretty solid at WR for 2011.

The Cardinals have waived 25-year old QB Max Hall.  Hall played in 6 games (3 starts) as a rookie for the Cardinals last year and he completed 39 of 78 passes (50%) for 370 yards with 1 TD pass and 6 INTs (35.7 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 1 time for -5 yards last year.  Hall was 1-2 (33.3%) as the starting QB for the Cardinals last year.  This is no big loss to the Cardinals as Hall has a dislocated left shoulder.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals have dealt 25-year old RB Tim Hightower to the Redskins for 35-year old DE Vonnie Holliday and a conditional late round draft choice.  Hightower played in 16 games (13 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he carried the ball 153 times for 736 yards (4.8 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also caught 21 passes for 136 yards (6.5 avg) last season.  Hightower played in 48 games (36 starts) in his three years with the Cardinals and he carried the ball 439 times for 1,733 yards (3.9 ypc) with 23 TD runs.  He also caught 118 passes for 801 yards (6.8 avg) with the Cardinals.  Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams will handle the running game for the Cardinals in 2011 and beyond.

35-year old DE Vonnie Holliday will be a backup for the Cardinals.  He played in 15 games for the Redskins last year and he had 29 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and he defensed 3 passes.  Holliday has now played in 182 games in his first 13 years in the NFL and he has 568 tackles, 34 tackles for a loss, 62.5 sacks, 9 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions. 

The Cardinals must have really wanted to ditch Hightower because they didn’t get much back for him.

The Arizona Cardinals have acquired 26-year old QB Kevin Kolb from the Eagles for 25-year old cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2nd round pick in 2012.  Kevin Kolb will be the starting QB from Day #1 for the Cardinals as his upside is impressive.  Kolb played in 7 games (5 starts) for the Eagles last year and he completed 115 of 189 passes (60.8%) for 1,197 yards with 7 TD passes and 7 INTs (76.1 QB Rating).  Kolb also carried the ball 15 times for 65 yards (4.3 ypc) last year.  Kolb has now played in 19 games (7 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has completed 194 of 319 passes (60.8%) for 2,082 yards with 11 TD passes and 14 INTs (73.2 QB Rating).  Kolb also has carried the ball 36 times for 64 yards (1.8 ypc) with 1 TD run in his career.  Kolb is 3-4 (42.9%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  The Cardinals have given Kolb a 5-year, $63 million dollar deal…..so they must think he’s the real deal and they better hope so because he didn’t come cheap.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played in 16 games for the Cardinals last year and he had 44 tackles, 17 passes defensed and 3 interceptions (2 returned for TDs).  He played in 48 games in his three years with the Cardinals and he had 136 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 3 forced fumbles, 61 passes defensed and 13 interceptions (4 returned for TDs).  He will be hard to replace.

The Cardinals gave up quite a bit for Kolb, so they need him to be a really good QB for quite a while.  It will be very interesting to see how this deal works out.

The Cardinals have cut 28-year old QB Derek Anderson.  Anderson played in 12 games (9 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he completed 169 of 327 passes (51.7%) for 2,065 yards with 7 TD passes and 10 INTs (65.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 5 times for 25 yards (5.0 ypc) last year for the Cardinals.  The Cardinals were only 2-7 (22.2%) in games started at QB by Anderson last season.  Anderson has now played in 51 games (43 starts) in his first five years in the NFL and he has completed 756 for 1,436 passes (52.6%) for 9,148 yards with 53 TD passes and 55 INTs (68.8 QB Rating).  Anderson also carried the ball 76 times for 205 yards (2.7 ypc) with 5 TD runs in his NFL career.  Anderson is now 18-25 (41.9%) as a starting NFL QB and he has made it to 1 Pro Bowl.  That Pro Bowl seems to have been a mirage as he was awful for the Cardinals last year.  Some team will sign Anderson to be a backup but the Cardinals will be much better off without him.

The Arizona Cardinals have released 30-year old inside linebacker Gerald Hayes.  Hayes played in 6 games for the Cardinals last year and he had 33 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 pass defensed.  He played in 94 games in his seven years with the Cardinals and he had 428 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 6 fumble recoveries, he defensed 14 passes and he also had 4 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  The Cardinals should be able to replace Hayes in free agency.