Billy Price could’ve been a Cardinal. The team talked to him as a free agent this offseason and a lot of times, that ends in a signing. In this case, it did not.
Rodney Hudson ended up returning to start at center. But with the ongoing knee problems for Hudson, the Cardinals again sought out Price, who had landed on the Raiders practice squad. And after all that, he indeed has become the Cardinals starter at the position while Hudson remains sidelined indefinitely.
“It’s been … ironic,” Price said. “To put it lightly. You have to take it a day at a time and I really think that was my mantra. The Spring developed the way it did, personal decisions were made, and getting into the season I was looking for the right fit.
“I thought there was an opportunity in Las Vegas, and then Arizona called. And I was absolutely ecstatic. I really like it here.”
The Cardinals are up to two new starters on the line. Cody Ford, who was forced into action at left guard last week after basically no practice for six weeks following a stint on IR, is the left guard. Ford figures to be there going forward, as the Cardinals figure out if he makes sense to be a long-term answer (Ford is scheduled to be a free agent.)
Whenever Hudson is ready, he’ll be back in the lineup. The question is when he’ll be ready with the knee that has troubled him since training camp. Price, a former first-round pick of the Bengals who started for the Giants last season (next to Cardinals guard Will Hernandez), is the guy for the foreseeable future.
“We liked him,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “I think he was looking for the right situation at the time (in free agency). I’m glad it worked out. With Rodney’s situation he’s done a nice job picking it up.”
— Time for DeAndre Hopkins the sequel. The premiere for Nuk was as electric as hoped, with his 10 catches for 103 yards. More than that, Hopkins clearly took a leadership role last week.
“I’ve always been a guy who’s been able to motivate and try to push people because I want the same back to myself,” Hopkins said. “I want guys to vocalize what I am doing and what I need to do better. So for me it’s not so much being a vocal leader but letting my play show. (But) I wasn’t really talking a lot in the huddle. I was probably more calm than I’ve ever been.”
— The man who will line up on Hopkins at least some of the time is former Cardinals All-Pro Patrick Peterson (although the Vikings use Peterson in more zone than he played or liked to play when he was in…
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