:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/10046643/20130202_ter_st3_302.0.jpg)
In another turn involving the departure of former Cleveland Browns return man Joshua Cribbs, the Arizona Cardinals are not going to sign him after he took a physical on Monday...at least not for another several weeks. According to reports, Cribbs had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus after the end of the regular season and is still in recovery.
"He did not fail his physical," said J.R. Rickert, Cribbs' representative. "The [Cardinals] just wanted more time to let his knee heal from after-season surgery."
Mike Garafolo of the USA Today clarifies that Cribbs had his knee scoped, and that it would seem as though the Cardinals are still interested in him if he recovers fine:
Rickert expects the Cardinals to give Cribbs another physical in a few weeks. If all is well then, he expects a signing with the team.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 19, 2013
This has to increase the odds of Cribbs landing elsewhere, though. The timetable is unclear, too. Will Cribbs be ready before or after the draft? The Plain Dealer speculates that is might take five weeks for Cribbs to be healed, which would be right around the draft. A team's plans can change drastically over that span of time. Is there a glimmer of hope that he ends up with Cleveland after all? Who knows; maybe nobody will be interested in him at that point, and he'll take a lower deal in Cleveland.