Cardinals Cut Former Cal Star Evan Weaver

Ex-Golden Bears linebacker again falls just short of making an NFL regular-season roster

Former Cal linebacker Evan Weaver again fell just short of making a regular-season NFL roster, as the Cardinals released Weaver on Monday.

Teams are required to reduce their rosters to 53 players by Tuesday afternoon, so a lot of players will be released Monday and Tuesday. Weaver was one of 10 players cut by the Cardinals on Monday. All those players are subject to waivers and can be claimed by another team. If they clear waivers, all are eligible to return to the 16-man practice squad.

Weaver was released before the regular-season opener last year and spent the 2020 season on the Cardinals’ practice squad. It remains to be seen whether he will join the Cardinals’ practice squad again this season.

Weaver got a long look in the Cardinals’ second preseason game against the Chiefs, playing 28 plays on defense and 10 on special teams. He had three tackles, one of which was a solo stop, while playing defense, all in the second half, and he added a solo tackle on special teams.

However, any chance he had of impressing coaches in the Cardinals’ third preseason game this past weekend was erased when Arizona’s game against the New Orleans Saints was canceled because Hurricane Ida was approaching Louisiana.

Weaver was a first-team All-America selection while with the Golden Bears in 2019, when he was also named the Pac-12 defensive player of the year.

He was a sixth-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2020 NFL draft, but has been unable to stick so far. 

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Cover photo of Evan Weaver is by Billy Hardiman, USA TODAY Sports

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