Cards' Eason drops the gloves and 40 pounds

Defensive lineman Nick Eason told azcardinals.com that he has lost 40 pounds this offseason thanks to a new workout regimen.

Defensive lineman Nick Eason told azcardinals.com that he has lost 40 pounds this offseason.

A key to his off-season workout regimen was boxing. Eason is down to about 290 pounds and said he feels much better than he did a year ago.

--Receiver Larry Fitzgerald has attended every one of the team's offseason workouts. And he doesn't just go through them silently. He constantly challenges teammates to do more.

"(Larry Fitzgerald) keeps telling me he's going to take me up top," cornerback Greg Toler said. "He's like, 'you know I'm going to test that knee out.'"

--The Cardinals remain interested in re-signing veterans Clark Haggans and Vonnie Holliday. Both would be valuable reserves: Haggans at outside linebacker and Holliday at defensive end. The cost would be about $1 million apiece. The Cardinals are about $2 million under the cap and hope to create some space by signing end Calais Campbell, their franchise player, to a long-term deal. His franchise tag counts about $10.7 million toward the cap.

--The Cardinals expected 40 or so players to attend their rookie minicamp over the weekend. Some will be there on a tryout basis, and the team has not yet released a list of names. Coaches would like to have two deep at every position, but that's not going to be the case on either the offensive or defensive lines. The hope is to get the rookies up to speed enough that they can contribute in practices later this summer.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "They're giving us (cornerbacks) jobs, but just making our jobs harder." -- Cornerback A.J. Jefferson on the NFL becoming a passing league.