TEMPE, Ariz. -- The writing was on the wall for Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein this offseason. He just didn't want to see it; didn't want to believe that the only NFL team he had ever known -- his hometown team -- would release him.
That's what happened Thursday when the Cardinals cut ties with one of three remaining holdovers from the 2009 Super Bowl team. The move frees up about $3.1 million in cap space. Sendlein was due a base salary of $3 million with a cap number of $4.275 million, but the move was likely also made because Sendlein didn't have a good season in 2014.
The Cardinals have Ted Larsen available to play center at a base salary of $1.6 million and a cap number of $2.435 million. On Wednesday, they also signed center/guard A.Q. Shipley, who spent time under coach Bruce Arians with the Colts and Steelers.
Sendlein, who will turn 31 in six days, could still return to the Cardinals at a lesser salary and compete with the aforementioned players, but he will likely test the market.
"The way I look at it, I always play on a one-year deal anyway," Sendlein said two weeks ago in an interview with FOX Sports Arizona. "If you're not performing, they'll find someone who is."
Sendlein was the team's starting center for 107 of the team's last 112 games. Often, that meant playing through injuries. He admitted that last season was especially difficult on that front, but he refused to name the injuries, or use them as an excuse or a reason to come off the field. As an undrafted free agent in 2007, he felt he had to play through more pain than players who had draft status working in their favor.
That attitude earned him near-universal respect from his teammates and coaches.
"I don't like sitting in the training room. If you got treatment on every little thing you would be in there all day and I don't think that's the way it should be," he said. "Things are changing and guys are taking care of their bodies a lot more. That's something I'm learning as an older guy.
"When I first got into the league, the attitude was: if you're in the training room you'd better have something wrong with you. Now it's different where you're doing everything you can to take care of yourself for the team. I'm still learning that but on the other side, there are definitely guys who also need to learn a little toughness."
Sendlein wasn't even paying attention to the Cardinals' signings the past few days. He was focused on raising his son, Crew Jack Sendlein, who was born last season, and had no idea that Shipley or any other free agent had been added to the roster.
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