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 dealt 29-year old G/T Reggie Wells to the Eagles for a future sixth round pick.  Wells played in 16 games (all starts) for the Cardinals last season.  He has played in 104 games (90 starts) in his 7 years with the Cardinals.  The signing of Alan Faneca in the off-season pretty much ended Wells’ time as a starter in Arizona so it was probably smart to trade him for something of value.

The Cardinals have acquired rookie 6th round pick (RB) Charles Scott from the Eagles for rookie 6th round pick (CB) Jorrick Calvin.  Scott played in 3 pre-season games for the Eagles and he carried the ball 1 time for 2 yards and he also caught 1 pass for 0 yards.  Scott is a power running back at 5′11″, 231 pounds.  He runs a 4.6 40 so he’s not much of a threat to break off many big runs but he is a bully between the tackles.  Scott played in 9 games (all starts) for LSU last season in which he carried the ball 116 times for 542 yards (4.7 ypc) with 4 TD runs and he also caught 8 passes for 54 yards (6.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He played in 43 games (23 starts) in his four years at LSU and he carried the ball 424 times for 2,317 yards (5.5 ypc) with 32 TD runs.  Scott also caught 31 passes for 260 yards (8.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his career at LSU.  The Cardinals needed a running back to back up Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells so Scott will have a chance to make the team.  Jorrick Calvin played in 3 pre-season games for the Cardinals in which he made 5 tackles.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2010) – The Cardinals have waived Charles Scott.  Scott played in 1 pre-season game with the Cardinals.  He rushed for 23 yards on 11 carries (2.1 ypc) against the Redskins. 

The Cardinals have traded 28-year old CB Bryant McFadden to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 5th round pick in the NFL Draft.  The Cardinals used the pick on QB John Skelton out of Fordham.  McFadden played in 16 games for the Cardinals in his only year with them last season.  He had 69 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he defensed 15 passes for the Cardinals last year.  The Cardinals were not happy with McFadden’s play in 2009 and you can tell because they pretty much gave him away.

The Cardinals have acquired 27-year old safety Kerry Rhodes from the Jets for a 4th round pick in 2010 and a 7th round pick in 2011.  Rhodes played in 16 games for the Jets last season and he made 63 tackles, had 2 tackles for a loss, defensed 13 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  Rhodes has now played in 80 games in his NFL career and he has 417 tackles, 6 forced fumbles, 9 sacks, he has defensed 47 passes and he has 15 interceptions.  I like this trade for the Cardinals as Rhodes will replace Antrel Rolle who recently signed with the Giants.