Zay Jones officially made his return to the desert on October 27, but Monti Ossenfort didn’t hand him a free pass.
While the Cardinals already knew him from back when they signed him in 2025, that still didn’t earn Jones an automatic 53-man roster spot.
Cardinals Re-Sign Zay Jones After Working Out 4 WRs
Mike LaFleur picked Jones out of the four wideouts they worked out Wednesday: Ronnie Bell, Zay Jones, James Proche and Xavier Guillory, per Adam Schefter.
They signed Jones out of the four, but stashed him right on the practice squad. Instead, they promoted offensive lineman Kingsley Eguakun to the active 53-man roster instead. Jones will have to earn his way back onto the field.
The roster moves come after Jalen Brooks broke his wrist in a season-ending injury. And Michael Wilson’s ribs kept him out of the mix and limited in practice sessions as well.
And both of those WR injuries come right around the time they traded their top wideout, Marvin Harrison Jr., to the Houston Texans to stock up on draft capital.
Depleted doesn’t even cover their current situation.
At 2-5, any talk of a postseason run is pure fantasy. Mike LaFleur’s squad is in full damage-control mode, just trying to survive the back half of the schedule and salvage a shred of respectability before this campaign completely unravels. Yet, Ossenfort and LaFleur are keeping a veteran like Jones away on the practice squad.
Jones originally signed a one-year deal with Arizona back in 2024, missing the first five games to serve an NFL personal conduct suspension. The team brought him back on a $4.4M extension for 2025, but a torn Achilles against Seattle in Week 10 cut his season short.
Despite that chaotic injury history, Jones still managed 20 catches for 267 yards over 19 games in Arizona before his release. After getting cut by the Texans during 2026 training camp, he remained on the market until the Cardinals called him in for a four-receiver workout.
All Eyes Still on Kingsley Eguakun
While Jones makes a case for himself to be elevated, Eguakun already has the spot and now has to perform to keep it. The former Florida Gators center went undrafted in 2024 and bounced between Detroit, Cleveland, and New York before landing on Arizona’s practice squad earlier this month. Eguakun got a quick trial run on special teams against Denver in Week 8, giving Mike LaFleur immediate depth along the interior line.
He was elevated to the active roster last week to be the Cardinals’ backup center because starting right guard Jon Gaines was out with an ankle injury. Hayden Conner, who had been serving as the Cardinals’ backup center, started at right guard, so Eguakun was added to be the backup to Hjalte Froholdt.
Whether LaFleur adds Jones to the active squad is the question now.
Cardinals Add Re-Signed Veteran Zay Jones on Practice Squad While Elevating Unexpected Help