Former Cardinals First-Round Pick Signs With UFL

While the Arizona Cardinals won't be playing until down the road in 2024, one former first-round pick will be strapping on the pads in just a few months. 

Robert Nkemdiche recently inked a deal with the UFL's DC Defenders for the upcoming season, set to start on Mar. 30. 

The Cardinals took Nkemdiche with the No. 29 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft before spending three seasons with the organization. 

Arizona declined his fifth-year option and later waived him ahead of the 2019 season with a failed physical designation. 

He then spent time with the Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers before heading to the USFL prior to the league's recent merger with the XFL.

Former Cardinals GM Steve Keim - who drafted Nkemdiche - didn't have glowing things to say about the former top pick:

“In Arizona, I drafted Robert Nkemdiche with the 26th pick overall who we thought was a Top 10 talent and there were some concerns and questions about him coming out," Keim said last year. 

"At the end of the day really, the guy just, in my opinion, didn’t love football enough. He didn’t succeed or play at a high level because he was in love with the process of going through the draft, being the top pick, getting money. But when it was time to grind, that wasn’t his focus.”