Michael Carter’s True Value – Revenge of the Birds

Rules for the practice group (according to Wikipedia) The minimum for veterans with at least three years of experience is $16,800 per week, and the maximum salary is set at $21,300 per week.

After being happy to see Michael Carter agree to sign to the Cardinals’ practice squad, I began to wonder how he feels about the fact that he is now making a maximum of $21,300 per week after the Cardinals (or any other team due to a waiver claim) were unwilling to pay him the $3.2 million he is due (due to the NFL’s tried and tested performance-based salary increase) for this season.

If Michael Carter stays on the Cardinals practice squad for the next 18 weeks, he will earn $383,400.

If Michael Carter is poached from the Cardinals’ practice squad by another team or the Cardinals eventually add him to the Cardinals’ 53-man roster, he will earn 1/17 of the NFL minimum salary for veterans with 4 to 6 years of experience, or $66,176 per week.

The way things stand right now, the chances of Michael Carter making more than a million dollars this season are extremely slim.

If Carter gets a chance to play this season and plays well, he can significantly improve on his poor numbers this year as an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

Deep in my heart, I believe that Michael Carter deserved a much better result.

Carter has given the team and organization a nice boost during Kyler Murray’s return to the court.

He played very well – 22 carries for 149 yards for a team average of 6.8.

With his PFF rating of 76.6, he was the second-best in the entire offense, one behind James Conner (89.2).

This preseason, he was a bright spot on offense, running 9 times for 50 yards (5.6 average – best on the team) and scoring a brilliant touchdown.

In doing so, Carter has endeared himself to Cardinals fans like me, possibly you, and certainly to Joanna Cards Fan, who has been passionately advocating for the Cardinals to keep Michael Carter on the 53-man roster for months.

When Jonathan Gannon said he had not played Michael Carter in the final pre-season game because “we had seen enough of what we needed to see from him”, Joanna, I and many others were convinced that this meant he had made the team.

While it’s understandable that $3.2 million is a bit much for a backup RB, the Cardinals are paying DeeJay Dallas $2.75 million per year to touch the ball 4-5 times per game as a return specialist.

The point is: It’s unfair that Michael Carter is making less than $1 million this year.

By all accounts, Michael Carter is very team-oriented and well-liked by his teammates. He was thrilled that the Cardinals drafted his friend Trey Benson and said he couldn’t wait to play on a team with him.

The Cardinals even equipped Carter with a microphone for the Reds and Whites’ practice game:

Wired: Michael Carter at Red & White training (azcardinals.com)

Should Michael Carter pay more attention to Cardinals fans or NFL executives?

Here’s what Jonathan Gannon said about him yesterday after training:

What’s hard to understand is how head coach can rate Michael Carter so highly. So why couldn’t the team come up with a better plan to keep him on the team? It feels like they never wanted to pay him $3.2 million, but couldn’t they have negotiated a different deal that worked for both the team and a player who, according to the head coach, “fits what we’re doing here”?

And as fans, we’ve seen firsthand why Michael Carter fits. His wiggle and buzz is unique to the offense at his position. He’s like the Greg Dortch of the group.

The Cardinals now have a salary cap of $26.1 million, the sixth-highest in the NFL.

What do you think Gannon meant when he said, “The dust hasn’t settled yet (Carter waived and then signed with PS)?”