Desmond Ridder's summer trial with the Cardinals will not extend into the fall.
Arizona is releasing the quarterback ahead of Tuesday's deadline for teams to reduce their rosters to 53, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
Ridder joined the Cardinals in the offseason via a one-for-one trade, in which the Falcons sent the quarterback west in exchange for receiver Rondale Moore. Neither team is going to receive any return on the deal, though, after Moore suffered a season-ending knee injury during joint practices with the Dolphins, and the Cardinals chose second-year backup Clayton Tune over Ridder.
The writing was on the wall fairly quickly for Ridder, who began the preseason as the first option behind Kyler Murray, then spent the final two preseason games as Tune's understudy.
Tune outplayed Ridder, at least relatively speaking for the preseason environment, completing 35 of 52 passes for 361 yards and a 1-1 TD-INT ratio in three games. Ridder, meanwhile, completed 20 of 35 attempts for 225 yards.
Neither inspired much confidence, but Arizona's decision sends the same uninspired message regarding Ridder that Atlanta conveyed when general manager Terry Fontenot willingly dealt the Cincinnati product after just two NFL seasons. Though he's mobile, Ridder has never demonstrated enough consistency to earn the faith of a front office. There are teams that could use a backup, though, so we'll see if that leads Ridder to another opportunity elsewhere.
