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The injury-plagued Arizona Cardinals, in need of another inside linebacker after Deone Bucannon suffered a high ankle sprain on Sunday, are expected to announce the signing of former Arizona Wildcats star Scooby Wright III off the Browns’ practice squad.
Per NFL rules, that will allow Wright to be part of the Cardinals’ 53-man roster. It’s possible Wright could play Sunday in a home game against the New Orleans Saints.
“Time to work!” Wright tweeted Monday.
Wright flew out of Cleveland Tuesday morning to Phoenix.
“That’s Scooby’s dream, playing for Coach Arians,” Wright’s father, Phil Wright, told TucsonNewsNow.com Monday night.
“On draft day, we were on the phone with Coach (Bruce) Arians, and he’s like, ‘Scooby, you’re my dog.’ Scooby was like, ‘I want to play for you so bad.'”
He was drafted by Cleveland in the seventh round (250th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. He signed a four-year deal with the Browns following the draft. He was released before the start of the season and then eventually was signed to the team’s practice squad.
When it appeared Wright III might not be drafted, he and his family were talking to the Cardinals about quickly signing a free agent deal after it was over. As those conversations took place, between Arians and Wright’s agent Drew Rosenhaus, the Browns selected Wright III with the fourth-to-last pick in the final round.
Time to work!
— Scooby Wright III (@TwoStarScoob) December 13, 2016
After Wright’s Tweet, former Arizona linebacker Marquis Flowers, with the Cincinnati Bengals, tweeted this:
Go Do your Thang!! ✊🏾 https://t.co/GHuvD7B7xV
— Marquis Flowers (@MrHitThat_53) December 13, 2016
As a sophomore with the Arizona Wildcats in 2014 — when they won the Pac-12 South title — Wright III won the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award. He had 29 tackles for loss, including 14 sacks with six forced fumbles. He also became a unanimous All-American.
He suffered a knee injury in the 2015 opener and played in only three games as a junior before entering the NFL draft.
Wright III became a dominant defender at Arizona despite being an overlooked recruit out of high school. He takes pride in being called “Two-Star” Scooby. Now apparently he has a chance to prove himself with the Cardinals after the Browns, winless this season, basically didn’t give him the chance to crack their active roster despite plays like this:
Scooby Wright makes a play on 4th and goal to prevent TD…that's how to make a case for making a team.. pic.twitter.com/RRKIYDplDY
— Mike Woellert (@Mike_Woellert) September 2, 2016
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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