Cornerback Robert Alford signed with the Cardinals in 2019, but the team has yet to see him take part in a game.
Alford broke his leg in his first Arizona training camp and tore his pectoral in the second, so it wouldn’t have been a big surprise if the Cardinals decided to move on without him this year. They did release Alford to save cap space, but re-signed him at the veteran’s minimum a short time later.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said that Alford said he’d “come back for whatever deal because I owe the organization” and Alford expressed the same to reporters on Thursday.
“I had to come back here,” Alford said, via the team’s website. “I had something to prove. . . . I’m not ready to hang it up at all. You’re always going to have dark times in anything that you do. If you love what you do, you’re going to use that to motivate you, and that’s what I’ve done with these last two years.”
When Alford first signed in Arizona, the plan was for him to complement Patrick Peterson. If he can finally stay healthy, he’ll take his first snaps as part of the plan to replace him.