Cardinals sign tight end Charles Clay days after Bills release him

The Cardinals have signed former Bills tight end Charles Clay, according to the team’s website. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that it’s a one-year deal worth up to $3.25 million and includes a $350,000 signing bonus. Clay, 30, was heading into the final year of a five-year, $38 million deal he signed with the Bills in 2015.

Clay had just 21 receptions last season, his lowest total since 2012, when he was with the Dolphins. In fact, he never had more than 558 receiving yards in Buffalo after eclipsing that mark in his final two years in Miami. Perhaps iit’s no surprise that he ranked near the bottom in value per play among all tight ends last season, according to Football Outsiders, though Clay was closer to replacement level during his three previous seasons.

For the Cardinals, who managed just three wins last season, Clay remains an upgrade; Ricky Seals-Jones had 34 receptions for 343 yards for Arizona in 2018 but he was dead last in value per play for all tight ends. The two other tight ends on the ’18 roster, Jermaine Grisham and John Phillips, combined for 12 catches. (Seals-Jones is an exclusive rights free agent and Phillips is an unrestricted free agent.)

The Cardinals have the No. 1 pick in the draft and the expectation is that they’ll address the defense. We’ve regularly had them taking Ohio State’s Nick Bosa, in part because new coach Kliff Kingsburgy has made it clear that quarterback Josh Rosen, the team’s 2018 first-round pick, remains an integral part of the future despite rumors that Kyler Murray could end up in Arizona.

Rosen is “our guy” and has “the keys to the castle,” Kingsburgy has said recently. And now he’ll Clay to throw to in 2019.

Clay is the third free agent signed by the Cardinals, who have also added former Falcons cornerback Robert Alford and Falcons defensive end Brooks Reed.