Because the Cardinals prepare for the beginning of coaching camp, the team has placed a handful of players on lively/PUP. More notably, their QB1 is present for the team’s first workout. Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur told reporters that Jacoby Brissett is present for the beginning of coaching camp and can practice, per Darren Urban.
This can be a significant development for the Cardinals. Brissett was all the time expected to attend the opening of coaching camp, but he was expected to stage a hold-in as he awaited an adjustment to his contract. While that approach would have helped him avoid fines, it could have opened the door for an additional QB to compete for reps. The Cardinals added a pair of quarterbacks this offseason in veteran Gardner Minshew and third-round rookie Carson Beck.
Brissett inked a two-year, $12.5MM deal last offseason to back up Kyler Murray. The QB2 ended up starting 12 games for Arizona, and while the team only went 1-11 in those outings, Brissett still put up impressive counting stats, completing 64.9 percent of his passes for 3,366 yards, 23 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. With the 33-year-old set to earn only $5.39MM in 2026, he’s naturally been in search of a raise that may pay him closer to the going rate for starting QBs.
Thus far, the Cardinals have resisted. Brissett skipped Arizona’s voluntary offseason program (including OTAs) although he did eventually report back to mandatory minicamp. While the Cardinals have reportedly been open to giving Brissett a raise, the 2 sides remain far apart of their suggested terms. It still stays to be seen if Brissett will take part in preseason games without an adjusted deal, although that may subject him to fines price $287K.
Elsewhere in Arizona, the Cardinals placed the next players on reserve/PUP to open camp (per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport): LB Josh Sweat, LT Paris Johnson Jr., CB Garrett Williams, and TE Tip Reiman. LaFleur revealed that each Sweat and Johnson are currently nursing knee injuries that may keep them off the practice field through the team’s first off day on Monday (via ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss). Nonetheless, it feels like the duo will likely be activated ahead of later.