Arizona Cardinals to promote Canadian linebacker Jesse Luketa to active roster

Photo: AP/Rick Scuteri

The Arizona Cardinals are promoting Canadian linebacker Jesse Luketa to the active roster, according to Aaron Wilson of the Pro Football Network.

The Ottawa native was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft following his collegiate career at Penn State. He dressed for all three of Arizona’s preseason games and recorded six total tackles to initially make the team’s 53-man active roster. He was then waived and moved to the practice roster after the Cardinals acquired cornerback Trayvon Mullen from the Las Vegas Raiders on cutdown day.

Luketa played twelve games at outside linebacker and defensive end for the Nittany Lions as a senior in 2021, making 61 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, and one interception. He was named a third-team All-Big Ten selection by the conference’s coaches.

The 23-year-old measured in at six-foot-three and 253 pounds at the NFL Combine and ran a 4.89 forty-yard dash on his first attempt before suffering an apparent leg injury on his second attempt. He rebounded to perform for scouts at Penn State’s pro day three weeks later and posted a 4.27-second short shuttle and 7.29-second three-cone drill.

Luketa was selected in the second round of the 2022 CFL Draft by his hometown Ottawa Redblacks but is expected to exhaust his NFL opportunities before coming north to play in the CFL.

The Cardinals (1-2) are scheduled to visit the Carolina Panthers (1-2) on Sunday, Oct. 2 with kickoff slated for 1:05 p.m. EDT.