Peters Back on Roster, Hudson Can Start Practicing

Cardinals nose tackle Corey Peters is now officially part of the roster after an exemption was lifted Tuesday.

Peters was activated from reserve/COVID-19 last Friday, but the team was granted an exemption that expired Tuesday. The Cardinals have now gone five days without having any player on the COVID list.

The Cardinals also designated center Rodney Hudson for return from reserve/injured Tuesday and made four practice-squad moves. 

Hudson has missed three games while on reserve/injured and can return to the active roster at any time in the next 21 days. He is expected to return to practice Wednesday.

They signed linebacker Tahir Whitehead and defensive lineman Matt Dickerson, while releasing guard Koda Martin and tight end Ross Travis. Whitehead and Dickerson each had tryouts with the team Monday.

Whitehead (6-2, 241) is a nine-year veteran who has played 139 games (96 starts) with the Panthers (2020), Raiders (2018-19) and Lions (2012-17) after beginning his career in Detroit as a fifth-round selection (138th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Temple. 

Last season with Carolina, Whitehead played 14 games (10 starts) and had 51 tackles, one interception, one fumble recovery and one quarterback hit. Prior to last year, Whitehead had started all 48 games over the previous three seasons (2017-19).

In his career, he has 684 tackles (490 solo), 38 tackles for loss, 25 passes defensed, six interceptions, 3.0 sacks, six fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles and 33 special-teams tackles. He hasn’t been with any team this year after becoming an unrestricted free agent in March.

Dickerson (6-5, 292) played in 18 games the past three seasons with Tennessee and had 15 tackles and one tackle for loss after originally entering the league with the Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2018 from UCLA. The 25-year-old Dickerson spent the preseason with the Raiders. He played 10 games with Tennessee last season after appearing in five games in 2019 and three games as a rookie in 2018.

The Cardinals did not protect any practice-squad players from being signed by another team this week. They have usually done that on Tuesday each week, but could still make those decisions Wednesday.