The Arizona Cardinals held rookie minicamp over the weekend. Their draft picks, undrafted free agent signings and many players who were there on a tryout basis.
Every year, at least one tryout player earns a contract and a place on the offseason roster.
This year, the Cardinals signed six tryout players to their 90-man offseason roster.
They announced the addition of these six players:
- Wide receiver Christian Blake
- Safety Tae Daley
- Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano
- Offensive lineman Greg Long
- Running back T.J. Pledger
- Wide receiver Jared Smart
To make room for these six players, the Cardinals cut linebacker Ron’Dell Carter, offensive lineman Marcus Henry, receiver Changa Hodge, safety Kekauka Kaniho, defensive lineman Will Miles and receiver Stephon Robinson Jr.
Hodge, Kaniho, Miles and Robinson were undrafted rookies they signed after the draft.
Player bios
These are the bios the team wrote for the newly signed players in the press release.
Blake (6-1, 181) spent the past four seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and appeared in 41 games (three starts) and had 28 receptions for 257 yards while adding eight tackles on special teams. He signed with Atlanta in 2018 as an undrafted rookie free agent from Northern Illinois and after spending his rookie season on the practice squad, played the past three seasons with the Falcons. The 25-year old Blake appeared in 32 games over the past two seasons with Atlanta.
Daley (5-11, 201) played in all 13 games (10 starts) last year at Virginia Tech and collected 73 tackles (47 solo), four tackles for loss, one pass defensed and one forced fumble. Prior to playing at Virginia Tech, the 23-year old Daley played three seasons (2017-19) at Vanderbilt where he had 108 tackles (74 solo), three interceptions, 5.5 tackles for loss, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and 1.5 sacks in 35 games.
Guarantano (gare-in-TAN-no) (6-3, 219) played two games last season at Washington State after spending the first four years (2017-20) of his collegiate career at the University of Tennessee. As a member of the Vols, the 24-year old Guarantano appeared in 41 games (32 starts) and went 494-of-808 passing for 6,174 yards and 38 touchdowns while also running for five touchdowns. He had 13 career multi-TD games and threw for 300+ yards three times in his career.
Long (6-3, 304) played 11 games the past two years (2020-21) at Purdue after spending the first four years (2016-19) of his collegiate career at UTEP. In his first season at Purdue in 2020, Long was named honorable mention All-Big 10 after starting all six games that season and helping the Boilermakers average 390.5 yards per game. The 24-year old Long appeared in 19 games at tackle while playing at UTEP.
Pledger (5-9, 196) played collegiately at Oklahoma (2018-20) and Utah (2021) and appeared in 37 games with 1,389 rushing yards and 12 TDs on 239 carries (5.8 avg.) while adding 21 receptions for 196 yards. A former teammate of Cardinals QB Kyler Murray and WR Hollywood Brown with the Sooners, the 22-year old Pledger had his best college season with the Utes in 2021 when he posted career highs in rushing attempts (104), rushing yards (694), rushing average (6.7), rushing TDs (10), receptions (10) and receiving yards (107) in helping the team to its first-ever Pac-12 Championship and an appearance in the Rose Bowl.
Smart (5-11, 189) played in 36 games the past three years (2019-21) at Hawaii and had 149 receptions for 1,863 yards and eight touchdowns. Prior to Hawaii, the 23-year old Smart played two seasons (2017-18) at Laney College (CA) and appeared in 19 games, catching 70 passes for 817 yards and seven TDs. He is the son of former NBA coach and current Arkansas basketball assistant coach Keith Smart. As a player at the University of Indiana, Keith is best known for hitting the game-winning shot in the 1987 NCAA championship game to beat Syracuse.
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