Edgerrin James Reportedly Released

According to John Clayton of ESPN.com, the Arizona Cardinals have released veteran running back Edgerrin James. The move comes as no real surprise, especially following the Cards using a first-round draft pick on Ohio State running back Beanie Wells. Wells joins Tim Hightower to give the Cardinals a solid, young duo of running backs that should provide the offense all the running game it needs.

James had wanted to be released, but the Cardinals didn't want to grant his wish until they knew they had a worthy replacement. In Wells, they have it, so the man we call Edge was granted his walking papers.

The 30-year-old James has been to the Pro Bowl four times, but none for the Cardinals. He spent the last three seasons in Arizona and compiled two 1,000-yard seasons -- though his statistical output didn't really match the contract he had signed as a free agent.

Considering he's only going to be 31 this season, the odds of him finding work for 2009 are pretty good -- as long as he's not counting on being a team's lone No. 1 back. Most teams know the deck is stacked heavily against a 30-plus running back finding success with more than a few carries per game. We'll see how much of a downgrade his ego can take in the next few months.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-28-2009 @ 8:01PM

Stoney said...

Hello. This is Daniel Snyder of the Wasington Redskins. Please come to my team so I can get rid of the other Clinton is Wasington that makes people around him "suck".

4-28-2009 @ 10:04PM

cantstopdrinkin said...

This is like fate. All the talk was about the Saints drafting B. Wells instead of a defensive secondary player (which they needed more) and the Saints did the right thing by taking M. Jenkins with their #14 pick. And now they cuold still get the other thing they need and the reason they were looking at Wells, a short yardage back for hard physical short 3rd down conversions after P. Thomas and Bush proved they couldnt do that last year and lost 2-3 games from not being able to pick up three 3rd and 3 or shorter and then run down the rest of the clock. Anyway back to my point - they passed on Wells and now since they did the Cards got him and release James...anyone see what im getting at? lol. The Saints need to jump all over this if they can get him for a relatively cheap price , and since everything i heard so far is giving the idea James is gonna find it hard to find a team since most teams are set at the backfield already it looks like its gonna be possible to sign him for cheap. I think its the perfect fit for a year or two until the Saints can draft their big back of the future. After seeing what James did in a couple playoffs games for the Cards it looks like he's defiently still able to get those tuff short yards....

4-28-2009 @ 10:45PM

gryjmcgrath said...

Welcome to the Patriots and enjoy your ring and the parade!

4-29-2009 @ 2:50AM

claytor said...

Oh, that would suck it he went to the Pats. Then again, this is a club that hasnt wont a Super Bowl in the last four plus seasons, so im not sure why were hyping them like crazy still.

Id love to see him come back to the Colts, but the Saints fan has a bright idea, a decent line, a hyper passing game, hed be the perfecr switch off play action back for that offense. I think hed compliment Pierre very well, and join Bush as another solid pass catcher out of the backfield.

Heres hoping your team is bright enough to consider this already, San Fran could be another possible destination, with him teaming up to spell Gore.

4-29-2009 @ 3:12AM

No grym the Pats already signed their man in Fred Taylor (thats the guy i originally wanted the Saints to go after be the perfect compliment to Reggie Bush and P. Thomas) and since most teams are already set at RB with this being so late in the offseason (most teams are set if not right before the draft then pretty quick post-draft) demand for James shouldnt be high and some analyists are already saying he could have some trouble getting signed , allowing New Orleans to have a pretty good shot at signing him for a fair low price . I really cant express how strongly i feel the Saints should look into this as earily as possible and show genuine interest to him and make an impression to him. This signing would go a long way to balancingout the offense with more running and like a said they need someone like him mostly to help pick up the 3rd and shorts that cost them big last year. I think they finally made some strides to at least get closer to an average defense by signing Greer, Sharper, Spicer, Coleman, Savage, and drafting of M. Jenkins , resigning of Vilma plus having T. Porter, R. Gay, C. Grant, W. Smirh, and H. Thomas all returning from injuries . If they can get E. James i think the only other thing they need is a quick athletic younger outside LB to help out Vilma , otherwise pretty much every need has been taken care of....

E. james and New Orleans Saints .... who would have thought .... perfect match 2009!!!

No grym the Pats already signed their man in Fred Taylor (thats the guy i originally wanted the Saints to go after be the perfect compliment to Reggie Bush and P. Thomas) and since most teams are already set at RB with this being so late in the offseason (most teams are set if not right before the draft then pretty quick post-draft) demand for James shouldnt be high and some analyists are already saying he could have some trouble getting signed , allowing New Orleans to have a pretty good shot at signing him for a fair low price . I really cant express how strongly i feel the Saints should look into this as earily as possible and show genuine interest to him and make an impression to him. This signing would go a long way to balancingout the offense with more running and like a said they need someone like him mostly to help pick up the 3rd and shorts that cost them big last year. I think they finally made some strides to at least get closer to an average defense by signing Greer, Sharper, Spicer, Coleman, Savage, and drafting of M. Jenkins , resigning of Vilma plus having T. Porter, R. Gay, C. Grant, W. Smith, and H. Thomas all returning from injuries . If they can get E. James i think the only other thing they need is a quick athletic younger outside LB to help out Vilma , otherwise pretty much every need has been taken care of....

E. james and New Orleans Saints .... who would have thought .... perfect match 2009!!!

4-29-2009 @ 4:29PM

Ha now ESPN has finally picked up on my idea. John Clayton said today that New Orleans would be the best fit for James and his agent Drew Rosenhous (or however you spell it) has a great relationship with the Saints. God i hope this happens. Other fans dont know how important a third down back would be to us.