Jacoby Brissett and Cardinals Making Progress on New Contract as Arizona QB Reports to Training Camp: Deal Appears Close
The Arizona Cardinals opened training camp Thursday, and Jacoby Brissett was on the field. That alone is worth noting.
Brissett sat out the voluntary portion of the offseason program and hung around minicamp as a hold-in without practicing. Now he is back to work, and first-year head coach Mike LaFleur says contract negotiations between the team and Brissett’s camp have been productive.
Translation: something is going to get done, probably soon.
What Brissett Is Currently Owed
Brissett is scheduled to earn a $4.88 million base salary in 2026, with $1.5 million guaranteed and up to $5.39 million total when incentives are factored in. That number sits well below the current market for a veteran backup with legitimate starting experience.
Brissett has 47 career starts. He has started for the Colts, Browns, Dolphins, Commanders and now Cardinals. He is 32 years old, has never been mistaken for a franchise savior, and has quietly built a reputation as one of the more reliable insurance policies in the NFL. When a starter goes down, Brissett does not lose games with turnovers. That has real market value.
The Cardinals brought him in this offseason to compete with Kyler Murray’s replacement pieces, which include Gardner Minshew, Carson Beck and Kedon Slovis. Whether he starts or not depends on how camp plays out, but either way, Arizona wants him on a raise.
LaFleur Is Playing It Cool
LaFleur addressed the situation the exact right way. When asked about Brissett’s presence after skipping earlier work, he said Brissett is here, he is under contract, and it is the first day of practice. That is coach speak for we are not going to make this into a public fight.
LaFleur then went a step further, calling the negotiations productive between the two sides. That is a specific word choice. Coaches do not describe stalled talks as productive. That language implies both sides have moved toward each other and a deal is within reach.
The focus now is on football. Brissett is working with the quarterbacks in the room, catching up on the cadence, the formations, the no-huddle package and the overall scheme. LaFleur said he is taking a day-by-day approach rather than declaring winners or losers. Smart move for a first-year head coach trying to establish his voice.
What This Signals About Arizona’s QB Room
If the Cardinals were confident in Beck or Slovis winning the job outright, they would not be renegotiating with Brissett. This is a team hedging its bets, and paying to keep the hedge in the building.
Beck was the fifth-round pick out of Miami who came in with question marks after a rough final college season. Slovis has been around the block but has never nailed down a job. Minshew is Minshew. None of that inspires huge confidence about the 2026 starting quarterback position in Arizona.
Brissett gives Arizona a floor. That floor is why he is about to get paid. The Cardinals are not going into the season with a rookie or a career backup as the only options. They want a veteran who can win a Week 1 game if needed, and that veteran is Jacoby Brissett.
Expect a new deal within the next week or two. The dance is almost over.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
