Cardinals Add Depth on Offensive Line in Trade for Cody Ford

The Cardinals traded a fifth-round pick in 2023 to Buffalo for Cody Ford, a guard/tackle who was a teammate at Oklahoma with Kyler Murray and Marquise Brown.

The Cardinals consummated a trade with the Buffalo Bills Monday, but it wasn’t for a cornerback.

Offensive lineman Cody Ford (6-3, 329), a college teammate at Oklahoma with quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver Marquise Brown, was acquired for a fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft.

A second-round pick in 2019 (38th overall), the same draft that Murray and Browns were selected in the first round, Ford started 15 games at right tackle for the Bills as a rookie.

In 2020, he started two games at right guard and five at left guard, but spent the final eight games of the season (including two playoff games) on reserve/injured. Last season, he started seven games at right guard.

In the offseason, the Bills added Rodger Saffold, who started 15 games at left guard for the Titans last season, tackle David Quessenberry, who started 17 games at right tackle for the Titans and Greg Van Roten, who started 10 games at right guard for the Jets.

They also matched a restricted free-agent offer sheet for four years the Bears made to right guard Ryan Bates.

Ford was the backup left guard in Saturday’s preseason game against the Broncos, and told The Athletic, "I don't know anybody who would accept being a backup, but at the end of the day, as competitors, we need to check ourselves before we look at anything else.

"I'd love to not be in the position that I'm in, but at the same time, I haven't done what I've needed to do to be where I want to be."

Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins said after the game, “Cody had a hell of a day. Pancake after pancake after pancake, no pressures. ... Cody is a fighter. Last year, he was upset he wasn’t playing. This year, he’s taking it as a reality check and is handling it the right way.

“What we want to see is him respecting the challenge and not complaining about it. As long as he’s not pouting and keeping high spirits, as long as he puts his best work on film, he understands what needs to be done. I’m proud of him. It’s easy when things are going wrong in this league to shut it down and go into a dark place. He’s not there. He’s working.”

Head coach Sean McDermott said, “He’s done a really good job. You saw him finishing off blocks in a physical manner today. That stood out to me. He’s had a phenomenal training camp to this point.”

Two days later, Ford is on his way to Arizona.

While the Cardinals have had some injuries to depth players on the line (Justin Murray/ankle), rookie Marquis Hayes/knee and Danny Isidora/walking boot), it’s not out of the question that the coaches are running out of patience with Josh Jones, who was a Cardinals third-round pick in 2020.

To make room on the roster for Ford, the Cardinals waived wide receiver Marcell Ateman. The team must reduce to their roster to 81 by Tuesday, a number that includes tight end Bernhard Seikovits, who has an exemption for being part of the league’s International Pathways Program.