We inch ever closer to the start of the 2024 NFL season and the Arizona Cardinals’ Week 1 season opener. As of Tuesday, the Cardinals will take the field at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park to take on the Buffalo Bills in 89 days.
No. 89 now belongs to second-year tight end Blake Whiteheart, who spent time on the practice squad and the active roster last year after signing as a rookie free agent.
He has yet to make an impact in the NFL but hopes to make the roster as perhaps the fourth tight end on the team.
No. 89 has mostly been a throwaway number for years for back-of-the-roster receivers and tight ends.
The last player to wear No. 89 and make a reasonable impact was tight end Ben Patrick, who played for the Cardinals from 2007-2010.
A seventh-round pick by Arizona in 2007, he played in 42 games, starting 20 in four seasons. he had 45 career receptions, never catching more than 15 in a season. However, he had five career postseason catches in six games and had a touchdown reception in the Super Bowl.
That’s not a bad impact.
He wasn’t the best No. 89 the Cardinals have had, but he did make an impact while he played here.
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