The Cardinals trimmed their roster to 53 players Friday, making a few surprise cuts along the way.

Most notably is punter Ben Graham, who apparently lost the training camp battle to veteran Dave Zastudil.

Re-signed prior to camp, Graham was never able to rediscover the magic that led to his excellent 2009 campaign, and it finally cost him his job.

“That was an area that we just felt like we needed to improve in,” head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “I can’t thank Ben enough for the work he’s done for us. He’s been an important contributor to some of our good teams, certainly the Super Bowl year and the year after that.

“We just felt like where we were as a team that was an area we needed to improve our consistency in.”

Other cuts include Ware was brought in shortly after camp started, and linebacker Will Davis, who was unable to establish himself in the NFL after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft out of Illinois.

The full list of cuts is below:

Cornerback FRED BENNETT
Safety JARED CAMPBELL
Center BEN CLAXTON
Quarterback BRODIE CROYLE
Linebacker WILL DAVIS
Punter BEN GRAHAM
Cornerback MARSHAY GREEN
Defensive end KENNY IWEBEMA
Tackle/Guard CLIFF LOUIS
Defensive tackle RICKY LUMPKIN
Fullback REAGAN MAUI’A
Defensive end JEREMY NAVARRE
Wide receiver AARON NICHOLS
Cornerback BRYANT NNABUIFE
Linebacker CYRIL OBIOZOR
Center KRIS O’DOWD
Guard TOM PESTOCK
Running back WILLIAM POWELL
Tight end STEPHEN SKELTON
Linebacker KENDALL SMITH
Linebacker PAGO TOGAFAU
Cornerback THAD TURNER
Safety MATT WARE
Wide receiver ISAIAH WILLIAMS
Tackle D.J. YOUNG

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