54 days till the Cardinals' season opener against the Bills

The Arizona Cardinals are a day closer to the start of their regular season on this Tuesday. From today, it is 54 days until they take the field on September 8 at Highmark Stadium against the Buffalo Bills on the road.

The Cardinals’ No. 54 is now rookie linebacker Xavier Thomas, drafted in the fifth round out of Clemson. He has not yet made an impact.

In fact, No. 54 has been pretty non-impactful for years.

The last reasonable impact with a No. 54 was linebacker Gerald Hayes, who played for the Cardinals from 2003-2010.

He was a third-round pick in 2003 by the Cardinals.

He would eventually become a starter, starting 59 of the 60 games he played from 2006-2009, which included the Cardinals’ two division titles and one Super Bowl appearance.

In 2008, the season they made it to the Super Bowl, Hayes had 88 tackles, half a sack, four pass breakups and four forced fumbles.

Tomorrow we will continue he countdown.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.