A.Q.

Shipley

Shipley is being placed on the injured reserve and will undergo career-ending neck surgery. It’s awful news for 34-year-old veteran who was finally playing for a Super Bowl contender. Arians has offered Shipley opportunities to coach if Shipley is open to continuing on his football life. The Bucs have been holding up well on the offensive line in front of Tom Brady all year.

Arians had called Shipley’s injury a stinger after Tampa’s Monday night loss to the Rams. That changed on Wednesday, with Arians suggesting the veteran might have suffered a serious neck injury. The Bucs took a flier on Shipley this season after he started 16 games in three of four seasons in Arizona. The team is hoping to get guard Ali Marpet (concussion) back into the lineup this week against KC.

Rapoport added that Jensen will remain in the lineup as a guard. LG Ali Marpet (concussion) is out this week so Jensen will likely take over his spot on the line until he returns. Marpet was having a top-five season at his position according to Pro Football Focus. Rapoport added that Bruce Arians hopes to increase the communication across the line by placing Shipley into the starting lineup. Shipley only has 10 offensive snaps this year but started in every game for Arizona last year.

A 16-game starter three of the past four seasons at the pivot in Arizona, Shipley has extensive experience in coach Bruce Arians’ system. He will slide in as plug-and-play depth at center and guard.

Including incentives, the deal is worth $2 million. It’s a show of good faith by the Cardinals after Shipley was lost to a season-ending ACL tear early in training camp. Shipley had been in the last year of his contract. The 32-year-old is expected to take an active role in mentoring his replacement Mason Cole, a third-round rookie out of Michigan.

The Steelers’ seventh-round pick in 2009, Shipley has yet to appear in an NFL game. He was in the Eagles’ organization from 2010-2011, while new GM Ryan Grigson was a Philly scout. Shipley may be only a camp body for the Colts.

DE Mario Addison was waived in a corresponding roster move. Shipley appeared in one game earlier this season. His promotion isn’t a good sign for C Samson Satele’s (knee) status.

After Matt Birk retired, the Ravens were left with 2012 fourth-rounder Gino Gradkowski as their starting center. Shipley, who graded out positively on 476 snaps in front of Andrew Luck last year, will at least bring strong competition. It’s another cost-effective, low-risk move for dominant Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome.

The Cardinals let Lyle Sendlein walk this offseason, but they did add Evan Boehm in the fourth round. Boehm was expected to compete for the starting job, but it looks like Arians has not liked what he has seen during the offseason. Shipley will be surrounded on the offensive line by D.J. Humphries, Mike Iupati, Evan Mathis and Jared Veldheer.

Shipley played all but five offensive snaps for Arizona last season, earning PFF’s No. 18 center grade out of 72 qualifiers. Shipley has overcome infamously short arms to settle in as one of the NFL’s most reliable starting pivots.