Cardinals cut DE Robert Nkemdiche one day after showing up to training camp 'not in shape'
The Arizona Cardinals didn’t waste much time on defensive end Robert Nkemdiche.
The Cardinals cut Nkemdiche on Saturday night, just one day after new head coach Kliff Kingsbury called out the former first-round pick for showing up to training camp out of shape.
“Not in shape, I guess,” Kingsbury said Friday, via ESPN. “And that's kind of where we'll leave it. I mean, he's on PUP and he's working through that. When he is cleared, we'll work with him.”
[Join or create a 2019 Yahoo Fantasy Football league for free today]
The former Ole Miss standout has played in just 27 games for the Cardinals over three seasons. He recorded 32 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 10 games last season, though tore his ACL in December. While it’s understandable that Nkemdiche wouldn’t be back to full strength at training camp after suffering an injury like that less than a year ago, the Cardinals’ staff apparently wasn’t content with his recovery efforts.
The 24-year-old was arrested in June, too, for speeding and driving with a suspended license. He was then pulled over twice in the same week later that month for traffic-related offenses.
Nkemdiche — who the Cardinals took No. 29 overall in the 2016 NFL draft — was set to enter the final year of his initial four-year deal with Arizona this fall. The team declined his $8.6 million fifth-year option in May. The move to cut ties with Nkemdiche now will save the Cardinals money, too, as he was due a $400,000 bonus on the fifth day of training camp.
More from Yahoo Sports:
