Cardinals make salary-cap room; release Bradley and Gay

Arizona Sports News online

The Cardinals cut linebacker Stewart Bradley and cornerback William Gay on Friday in a clear salary-cap move.

It didn’t take long for Gay to get work in a most familiar place for him: Pittsburgh.

In what seemed like seconds after being released by Arizona, Gay resurfaced with the Steelers, signing a three-year contract with the team he spent his first five seasons with before coming to the Cardinals last spring.

Gay started 15 games for the Cardinals. He had 57 tackles, two interceptions and three forced fumbles.

Gay was due to make $3.225 million this coming season.

Things never really worked out for Bradley in Arizona. He signed a five-year, $25 million contract after the 2011 lockout, and was expected to do big things in the Cardinals’ linebacking corps, but Bradley never caught on to former defensive coordinator Ray Horton’s 3-4 defense, as he left a 4-3 base in Philadelphia to come to Arizona.

Bradley took a 50-percent pay cut last season to stay on the team and was eventually relegated to special teams duty last season.

By cutting Bradley, the team will save $3.5 million against the cap, as Bradley was set to make $5 million in 2013.