With a new collective bargaining agreement in place for the next ten years and the NFL's lockout coming to a close, the focus has now shifted to building up rosters and it has teams scurrying to sign able bodies and undrafted free-agents.
One of the few USC Trojans not to be drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft, center Kristofer O'Dowd, has found his next destination and will be heading back to the desert to join the Arizona Cardinals.
O'Dowd has agreed to terms on a rookie deal and is expected to take part in the Cardinals' training camp, which kicks off in Flagstaff on Friday.
A standout at Tucson's Salpointe Catholic High School, the return to Arizona is a homecoming of sorts for O'Dowd, who has spent the better part of the past four years establishing himself as one of the best centers in college football and USC history.
The 6-foot-4, 305-pound O'Dowd was a perennial member of the Rimington Trophy watch list during his time with the Trojans and earned numerous other awards and accolades while at USC, including All-Pac-10 first team honors in 2008.
Despite becoming the first true freshman to start at center for USC and being one of the team's best offensive lineman during his tenure, concerns regarding O'Dowd's injury history ultimately found him undrafted and on the outside looking in.
But where one door closes, another opens and O'Dowd may have found the right situation in the Cardinals, whose starting center from 2010, Lyle Sendlein, went undrafted out of Texas in 2007 and is currently an unrestricted free-agent.
© 2011 Neal J. Leitereg -- All Rights Reserved
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