Arizona Cardinals re-sign Will Hernandez as he prepares to make NFL comeback from torn ACL month out from new season

The Cardinals are bringing back offensive lineman Will Hernandez as he continues to work his way back from a torn ACL.

Hernandez suffered the injury in Week 5 of last season while playing for Arizona, as he went on to miss the rest of the season and see his two-year deal with the team run out.

However, he announced on his Instagram on Thursday that he’s returning to the team a month out from the start of the season.

In a side-by-side photo of him and quarterback Kyler Murray, Hernandez simultaneously wished the passer a happy 28th birthday and announced he was returning to the team. 

‘@k1 let’s run it back?.’ he wrote. ‘Just missing the bow but I’m here! Happy birthday mijo! Let’s get it this season.’

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Hernandez is signing a one-year deal.

He reportedly impressed the team in a visit this week as he continues to rehabilitate his knee.  

Since joining the Cardinals in 2022, Hernandez has been a starter for the team when healthy, as he racked up 30 starts for the franchise through his first two seasons in Arizona.

However, he was limited to just five games last season before injuring himself in a October 6 game against the 49ers.

Hernandez shared on Instagram late last month that he had been medically cleared from his ACL injury, saying that he was ‘hungry’ to return to the field.

‘Football got taken away from me 9 months ago, it was the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me,’ he wrote. This has been my entire life. Many said that was it for me.

‘I’ve always been that player to talk up a big game and motivate the guys around me but for once it was my turn to practice what I preached!’

The 2018 second-round pick began his career with the Giants, spending four years with Big Blue before joining Arizona in free agency. 

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