NEWSLETTER
The positional switch experiment in Arizona has ended for Isaiah Simmons and the Cardinals. The Cardinals tried to move Simmons from linebacker to cornerback during training camp, but the early returns were disappointing. Now Simmons is heading to the New York Giants in a trade.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the New York Giants are sending a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Cardinals for Simmons, who is entering the final year of his contract.
Simmons, the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, has never found his footing with the Arizona Cardinals. New GM Monti Ossenfort decided this spring not to exercise his fifth-year option, putting the former Clemson Tiger on notice that his tenure in Arizona was on thin ice.
Ossenfort and the Cardinals have apparently seen enough after a poor showing in Week 2 of the preseason against the Chiefs. Simmons was drafted as a linebacker out of Clemson, but after an underwhelming start to his career, the Cardinals decided to move him to defensive back during the offseason program and training camp. The hope was that Simmons would be able to borrow some knowledge from veteran safety Budda Baker and make a successful transition to the defensive backfield this season.
Unfortunately, the early returns from Cardinals camp weren’t great, indicating that Simmons has struggled to adjust to the new role in Arizona. Simmons’s effort was a talking point on social media this weekend, with many citing whether or not Simmons was even putting any effort into his new assignment.
Simmons whiffed on a few tackles in which he appeared to make an effort on barely.
