One week after his abrupt release from the Vikings, veteran cornerback Bashaud Breeland is planning to sign with the Cardinals, CBS Sports NFL Insider Josina Anderson reported Monday. However, when Breeland arrived in Arizona, he tested positive for COVID-19, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero. Pelissero reports that a "handful" of playoff teams wanted to sign Breeland after his release, but the plan is that he will be a Cardinal once he is cleared of the virus.
The former Super Bowl champion starter was waived Dec. 18, the same day of a reported altercation with Vikings staff and teammates, but Arizona had been seeking secondary help after starting corner Marco Wilson suffered a shoulder injury in the Cardinals' Christmas Day loss to the Colts.
Arizona, which lost its fifth game in eight weeks on Saturday, had already been battling depth concerns at corner, where Robert Alford and James Wiggins were previously lost to injured reserve. Wilson, meanwhile, did not return to Week 16's loss to Indianapolis after exiting early, leaving reserves to fill in opposite Byron Murphy Jr. The team hosted Breeland on a free agent visit to start this week, and now he's a candidate to see instant playing time on the outside.
Breeland, 29, has plenty of experience. The former fourth-rounder has started 101 games since entering the NFL in 2014, logging at least two interceptions in all but one of his eight seasons between Washington (2014-2017), the Packers (2018), Chiefs (2019-2020) and Vikings. He struggled often opposite Patrick Peterson in Minnesota, however, totaling six penalties and allowing a 112.6 opponent passer rating in 13 starts, as ESPN reported.
Breeland made most of his noise off the field with Minnesota, notably tweeting back at critics early in the year and facing a civil lawsuit that alleged he repeatedly violated a Minneapolis apartment's no-smoking policy with marijuana use. Then, in December, NFL Media reported he had a verbal altercation with teammates and coaches after a disagreement at practice, leading to general manager Rick Spielman deescalating the situation, taking Breeland to his office and eventually releasing him.
