GLENDALE, Ariz. — The long wait is finally over. The Arizona Cardinals will be on the field for their first official practice of training camp Wednesday and they will practice in front of fans for the first time on Thursday.
12Sports is wrapping up our countdown to training camp 2023 by giving you an in-depth look at who will be suiting up in the secondary.
Let's start with the guys defending the deep ball, the Cardinals' safeties.
One of the best safeties in the NFL returns for his seventh season with the Cardinals. Budda is one of the best players on this roster and his #3 will likely be one of the most common jerseys seen around State Farm Stadium (along with Kyler Murray's #1).
Budda did report, but the question that remains, however, is whether or not we will see him practice during training camp. Budda has been in contract negotiations with the Cardinals all offseason as he wants an extension and a raise. Budda has also requested a trade.
Budda has earned the right to get paid, and the Cardinals would be smart to lock him up long-term and keep one of their best players around as they rebuild this roster.
The 27-year-old out of Washington has played in 93 games and totaled 650 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 34 passes defended, seven interceptions, 6 forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.
As mentioned above, Baker will wear #3.
Baker's stats in 2022-23: 15 games (15 starts), 111 tackles, 7 passes defended, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble
The other likely starter for the Cardinals at safety is Jalen Thompson, who is heading into his fifth season in the NFL.
Thompson was a product of the NFL's supplemental draft, where the Cardinals selected him in the fifth round in 2019.
Thompson has played well for the Cardinals during his career, as he has totaled 307 tackles, 19 passes defended, five interceptions, and two fumble recoveries in 54 games.
Thompson will wear #34.
Thompson's stats in 2022-23: 17 games played (17 starts), 110 tackles, 8 passes defended, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery
Brooks comes to Arizona as a member of the 2023 undrafted free-agent class.
The Michigan State product played in 24 games in East Lansing where he made 105 tackles along with 3.5 tackles for loss, knocked down three passes, and forced three fumbles.
Brooks will wear #28.
Brooks' stats in 2022-23 (at Michigan St.): 11 games played, 100 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles
This will be Chachere's second stint with the Cardinals. He was signed to the practice squad in 2019.
Since then, he has found his way onto the field, playing for Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis in Philadelphia.
Over the past two seasons, Chachere played in 23 games for the Eagles (including one start), totaling 20 tackles.
The Cardinals claimed Chachere off waivers from the Eagles in May.
The former San Jose State Spartan signed with Houston as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and has spent time on the practice squads in Detroit, Carolina, Indianapolis, and Arizona.
Chachere will wear #31.
Chachere's stats in 2022-23 (with Philadelphia): 7 games (0 starts), 5 tackles
Hughes joins the Cardinals' secondary this season after spending 2022 with the Detroit Lions.
He signed with the Cardinals on a futures contract in January. He spent two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams prior to playing in Detroit.
Hughes has played in 26 NFL games, making one start, and has totaled 18 tackles and a sack.
Hughes will wear #36.
Hughes' stats in 2022-23 (with Detroit): 7 games (1 start), 18 tackles, 1 sack
Rounding out the Cardinals' safeties heading into training camp is Moffatt, who is heading into his fourth NFL season and first with Arizona.
The Cardinals claimed Moffatt off waivers from Atlanta in April. He split time between the active roster and practice squad with the Falcons in 2022.
He came into the NFL after signing with Cleveland as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He spent two seasons in Cleveland before heading to Atlanta.
He has played in 17 games and made 10 tackles. He played in three games last season, but did not record a tackle.
Moffatt will wear #38.
Now, let's check out the Cardinals' crowded cornerback room.
After the departure of Byron Murphy Jr. (signed with Minnesota), Wilson is the Cardinals' top returning cornerback.
The former Florida Gator (who doubled down on his infamous shoe-throwing incident earlier this month) will look to be the man covering other teams' top receivers every week.
Wilson is heading into his third season with the Cardinals after being drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
In his first two seasons, Wilson has started 26 of the 28 games he has played in, totaling 106 tackles, 14 passes defended, three interceptions, 1 touchdown, and three forced fumbles.
Wilson will wear #20.
Wilson's stats in 2022-23: 14 games played (13 starts), 58 tackles, 10 passes defended, 3 interceptions, 1 touchdown, 1 forced fumble
Returning for a second season with the Cardinals is Christian Matthew out of Valdosta State.
The Cardinals took Matthew in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft and, after earning a roster spot, Matthew played in 14 games for the Cardinals last year, even making three starts, and he will have a chance to improve on that this year as cornerback is a position that will see a lot of competition in camp.
Matthew will wear #35.
Matthew's stats in 2022-23: 14 games played (3 starts), 19 tackles, 3 passes defended
The Cardinals added to their cornerbacks in the 2023 Draft, selecting Garrett Williams in the third round out of Syracuse.
Williams was a key member of the Orange secondary over the past four seasons, where he played in 32 games and had 152 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, four interceptions, one touchdown, 27 passes defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Williams was a three-time All-ACC selection and was even named a freshman All-American back in 2020.
In 2022, he was named a team captain and was an honorable mention All-ACC selection despite only playing seven games due to injury.
Williams will wear #21.
Williams' stats in 2022-23 (at Syracuse): 7 games played, 36 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 5 passes defended, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
Clark is another member of the Cardinals' 2023 NFL Draft class. He was taken in the sixth round out of Louisville.
Clark played the last three seasons of his collegiate career with Louisville after transferring from Liberty. He earned second-team All-ACC selections in both 2020 and 2021. With Louisville, Clark played in 30 games, making 127 tackles, five interceptions, 9.5 tackles for loss, and one sack. He also knocked down 28 passes and made two fumble recoveries.
Clark will wear #13.
Clark's stats in 2022-23 at Louisville: 12 games played (12 starts), 51 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 touchdown, 5 passes defended, 1 fumble recovery
Hamilton will look to get out of camp healthy this season after a cooking accident caused him to miss the start of the season last year due to burns on his feet.
Once he was cleared to play, Hamilton made his season debut in Week 5 against Philadelphia. Two weeks later, he made his lone interception of the season, and three weeks after that had perhaps his best game of the year, making 12 tackles against the Rams.
Hamilton is going into his eighth season in the NFL and third with the Cardinals. He signed with the then-Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He spent two seasons with Oakland, then played for the New York Giants for two seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs for one season, and then came to Arizona.
Hamilton will wear #33.
Hamilton's stats in 2022-23: 10 games played (5 starts), 44 tackles, 5 passes defended, 1 interception
Fenton is looking for a career resurgence and there may be no better place for him to get that than here in Arizona.
The South Carolina product was drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by Kansas City and was a member of Super Bowl LIV champions.
Fenton played in 42 games in his first three seasons with the Chiefs (11 starts) but was limited by injuries last year. He played in five games for Kansas City last year before being traded to Atlanta, where he only played in two games.
Over the course of his career, Fenton has made 127 tackles, knocked down 20 passes, grabbed two interceptions, and forced two fumbles.
Fenton will wear #24.
Fenton's stats in 2022-23 (with Kansas City and Atlanta): 7 games played (6 starts), 28 tackles, 2 passes defended
Boyd comes to the Valley after spending the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings.
A seventh-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Texas, Boyd played in 58 games over four years for the Vikings along with their Wild Card Round playoff loss to the New York Giants last season.
He made 95 tackles, knocked down three passes, forced two fumbles, and recovered two fumbles over those four seasons.
The Cardinals signed Boyd to a one-year deal in April.
Boyd will wear #29.
Boyd's stats in 2022-23: 17 games played (0 starts), 13 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
Hairston is returning for his seventh year in the NFL and his second year with the Cardinals.
After playing in 16 games for the Broncos in 2021, Hairston came to Valley but spent most of the season on the practice squad and ended the year on the practice squad IR. He played in two games last season but only made one tackle.
The Cardinals signed Hairston to a futures contract in January.
Hairston will wear #27.
Hairston's stats in 2022-23: 2 games played, 1 tackle
Maybin signed with the Cardinals in June and will be trying to return to game action for the first time since 2020.
He originally signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He played in one game for the Raiders and three games for the Vikings in 2020. He has spent the rest of his career on practice squads in New Orleans and Atlanta.
Maybin will wear #22.
The other Kyler on the Cardinals roster is McMichael, a 2nd-year pro out of North Carolina.
The Cardinals claimed McMichael off waivers from the Buffalo Bills in June.
He signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent last year but was released and ended up on Buffalo's practice squad.
McMichael has yet to make his NFL debut.
McMichael will wear #48.
Price signed with the Cardinals in June after spending the first three seasons of his career with Detroit.
He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Lions in 2020. He has played in 22 games where he made 15 tackles on defense and eight on special teams. He also defended three passes.
Back in 2021, Price became just the second cornerback in Lions history to catch a pass when he caught a 17-yard pass on a fake punt.
Price will wear #26.
Price's stats in 2022-23 (with Detroit): 5 games played, 4 tackles
And the final member of the Cardinals' packed cornerback room heading into training camp is rookie Quavian White out of Georgia State.
White signed with the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent after this year's NFL Draft.
He was a second-team All-Sun Belt selection this past season (one of three all-conference selections) and ranked 4th in the conference with four interceptions.
During his career with the Panthers, White played in 40 games where he made 157 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and nine tackles for loss. White also had 10 interceptions and defended 42 passes.
White will wear #37.
White's stats in 2022-23 (at Georgia State): 10 games played, 29 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 4 interceptions, 13 passes defended
The Cardinals will hold their first public practice of training camp 2023 Thursday at State Farm Stadium.
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