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Former Cardinals player Hodgins possibly back in picture
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It’s not a position the Cardinals were rushing to fill early in free agency. It’s not a position a team with just six draft picks will likely select in the draft, either. But the Cards have to find a fullback.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt has said numerous times he feels a blocking fullback is important. That’s in direct contrast to previous coach Dennis Green.
The irony is the man Green thought he could do without — James Hodgins, whom the Cards cut at the end of the preseason last year — is back on the team’s radar screen as a free agent.
Hodgins’ agent, Mark Bartelstein, said he has talked with the Cardinals “a few times” about Hodgins returning to Arizona. He played in six games with the New York Jets in 2006.
“We just want to find the right fit,” Bartelstein said.
Bartelstein said Hodgins “loves Arizona” and his previous experience hasn’t soured him on the franchise. Hodgins missed all but one game in 2004 and 2005 for the Cards because of a shoulder and knee injury, respectively.
The Cardinals have also been talking intermittently with the agent of restricted free agent fullback Vonta Leach, who was tendered an offer by the Houston Texans.
Signing Leach would not only mean coming up with an offer to prevent the Texans from matching, but also making an offer Leach would find agreeable. Another anonymous fullback, Ovie Mughelli, got an astounding $18 million free-agent contract with Atlanta.
The Cardinals have fullbacks on the roster, but Obafemi Ayanbadejo is not considered a classic blocker and John Bronson is a project who played defensive line in college.
While getting a fullback is key, “if you look at what we have done in our run game, it was pretty close to 50-50 whether it was a fullback or a second tight end,” Whisenhunt said at the recent NFL scouting combine.
Of course, the Cards are also searching for a second tight end , having cut ties with Fred Wakefield, who joined the Oakland Raiders as a free agent, and Adam Bergen.
Leonard Pope — who at this stage in his career is not the blocker Whisenhunt wants — is the only legitimate tight end left, aside from camp body Alex Shor.
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