Arizona Cardinals waive 5 as roster is cut down to 80

The Arizona Cardinals are waiving running back T.J. Pledger and four others to reach a cut-down limit of 80 rostered players on Tuesday.

The team also released punter Nolan Cooney, tight end Josh Hokit and cornerback Cortez Davis. Cornerback Darrell Baker Jr. was waived as an injured player.

In two preseason appearances for Arizona, Pledger had four carries for eight yards and one reception for 15 yards.

Cooney was a long shot to make the roster behind starting punter Andy Lee.

Pledger had been competing with the likes of Eno Benjamin, Jonathan Ward and Keaontay Ingram for a roster spot in the backfield alongside James Conner and Darrel Williams.

The 22-year-old rookie out of Utah went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft. He was signed by the Cardinals in mid-May after the team’s rookie minicamp.

While Pledger ended his college career with the Utes, he was a teammate of Kyler Murray, Hollywood Brown and Cody Ford at Oklahoma. Pledger was with the Sooners from 2018-20.

Across his three seasons at Oklahoma, Pledger amassed 135 carries for 695 yards and six touchdowns.

In a bigger role playing for Utah as a junior, Pledger nearly reached that yardage total in one year alone with 694 yards on 104 carries, plus six touchdowns.

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