In a somewhat surprising move, the Arizona Cardinals signed Todd Heap, a tight end who has played the first ten seasons of his career as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.
Heap, who grew up in Mesa and played football for ASU, is a welcome addition for a Cardinals team that was sorely lacking a big play threat from the tight end position in 2010. With the signing of Heap and the draft selection of Rob Housler, the Cards should be stocked at the position for years to come.
Here's more from the official press release:
A two-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection, Heap (6-5, 252) comes to the Cardinals after spending the first 10 years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens. A Mesa, AZ native who starred at Mountain View High School and Arizona State, Heap had 40 receptions for 599 yards and five touchdowns last season for Baltimore while starting all 13 games that he played in. His 15.0 yards per catch average was the best of his career and in the postseason, he led the Ravens with 13 receptions for 151 yards and a touchdown in two games played. His 10 receptions for 108 yards against the Chiefs in Wild Card round last year were franchise postseason records.
For his career, Heap has played in 133 games (128 starts) with 467 receptions for 5,492 yards (11.8 yard avg.) and 41 touchdowns. He is the Ravens career-leader in receiving touchdowns and second in receptions and receiving yards. Since entering the league in 2001, Heap's 467 receptions rank fifth among tight ends behind Tony Gonzalez (808), Jason Witten (617), Antonio Gates (529) and Jeremy Shockey (510) and his 41 touchdowns rank fourth among tight ends behind only Gates (69), Gonzalez (64) and Dallas Clark (44).
Heap was released by the Ravens last week. The terms of his contract with Arizona have not yet been released.
For more on the Cardinals, check out Revenge of the Birds.