Jacoby Brissett wants more money from the Arizona Cardinals. He also does not want to throw away $107,911. Those two facts collided this week, and the money won.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Josh Weinfuss, Brissett will report to the Cardinals’ mandatory minicamp, ending a quiet holdout that lasted through the entire offseason program.
That fine number is not random. NFL rules dock veterans roughly $50,000 a day for skipping mandatory minicamp, and Arizona was not going to look the other way for a quarterback who only earned $4.88 million this year.
The 33-year-old Brissett signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal with the Cardinals in 2025. That contract has not aged well from his perspective, especially after Arizona handed Gardner Minshew $5.14 million guaranteed on a one-year deal this spring. Minshew is the backup, and he is making more guaranteed money than the starter.
Arizona already told Brissett he is QB1 heading into 2026, which is leverage. The question is whether the Cardinals are willing to rip up his deal mid-summer or make him sweat it out.
Reporting to minicamp is the right move for both sides. Brissett protects his cash flow and keeps the relationship from going nuclear. The Cardinals get their starting quarterback in the building to actually run the offense.
It is also the smart play because Brissett has actual leverage. His 2025 season was solid. He threw for 3,366 yards with 23 touchdowns against just 8 picks in 14 games, completing 64.9 percent of his throws. That is a starter’s stat line for a team that needed steady veteran play after the Kyler Murray rebuild conversation.
Whether Brissett will fully practice or stand around in a hat and visor is the next question. Some holdout veterans show up just to avoid the fine and then do almost nothing. That is technically allowed and would still keep his money safe.
The Cardinals are in a strange spot. They have a starting quarterback who is underpaid, a backup who is overpaid for a backup, and an ongoing contract dispute that has not been resolved. The clock is ticking.
Training camp opens in about six weeks. Either Arizona finds a number that makes Brissett comfortable or this story drags into the regular season. Reporting to minicamp keeps every option on the table.
The bigger picture for the Cardinals is whether they trust Brissett to be the guy when it matters. He is not a long-term franchise quarterback. He is a respected veteran who can run an offense, keep games close, and not turn the ball over. That has value. It just has a ceiling.
Arizona has invested heavily on the defensive side of the ball and in the receiving corps over the past two drafts. The team is positioning itself to contend in the NFC West, where the 49ers are aging and the Rams and Seahawks are mid-tier. A Brissett offense that does not lose games is exactly the kind of offense Arizona needs.
The fine threat worked. Brissett is reporting. The contract talks will continue. The football part comes next.
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.
