Cardinals sign running back James Conner

James Conner (Wikimedia Commons)

The Arizona Cardinals have signed running back James Conner of Erie, Pennsylvania to a one-year contract worth $1.25 million. The contract also included a $500,000 signing bonus according to Matt Audilet of The Spun.

The Cardinals have become the second National Football League franchise Conner has played for. Prior to signing with Arizona, Conner played four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In 2020, Conner had 169 rushes for 721 yards and six touchdowns. He also had 35 catches for 215 yards. During Conner’s career, he has had 532 rushes for 2302 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also has had 124 catches for 963 yards and four touchdowns.

Conner’s most memorable season with the Steelers came in 2018. That season Pittsburgh was unable to come to an agreement with running back Le’Veon Bell, as Bell rejected to sign the franchise tag with the Steelers at $14.5 million. Conner came in and performed admirably with career-highs in rushing yards (973), rushing touchdowns (12), and receiving yards (497). As a result, Conner was selected to the Pro Bowl.

In 2019, there was a drop-off in Conner’s production, as he only had 464 yards rushing in 10 games. Even though 2020 saw an improvement for Conner, he was not performing at the same level as he did two years ago.

Now that Conner is gone, Benny Snell Jr. moves into number one on the Steelers depth chart at running back. Last year Snell Jr. had 368 yards rushing.

The Cardinals meanwhile will expect to use Conner as a backup to Chase Edmonds. Arizona decided to acquire a running back in free agency when Kenyan Drake signed a two-year deal worth $14.5 million on March 19 with the Las Vegas Raiders.  

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