Jacoby Brissett is done playing chicken with the Arizona Cardinals.
The veteran quarterback will report to mandatory minicamp this week, ending an offseason holdout that had become a low-key distraction in the desert, according to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss and Jeremy Fowler.
This was the right move. It was also the only move.
Brissett would have been hit with a $107,911 fine if he skipped mandatory minicamp, and there was no sign the Cardinals were going to cave on his contract demands. The two sides were reportedly “significantly” far apart in negotiations as recently as last month. Pay the fine for nothing? Not happening.
The frustration is real, though. Brissett signed a 2-year, $12.5 million deal in 2025, and he is set to make just $4.88 million in 2026 even with escalators. Gardner Minshew II, signed in March to back him up, will earn $5.14 million guaranteed on a one-year deal. That math does not feel great if you are the guy the team has already named the Week 1 starter.
Arizona has told Brissett he is the guy. He is still getting paid less than the backup. Of course he was annoyed.
The bigger question is whether the Cardinals will eventually meet him in the middle before the season starts. Right now the answer looks like no. A new deal is unlikely to get done before workouts start Tuesday, and the gap between the sides is real.
For Brissett, the smart play is exactly what he is doing. Show up, do the work, prove on the field that the Cardinals need him, and revisit the contract before training camp. Veterans who win the locker room have more leverage than veterans who hold out.
For Arizona, this avoids drama heading into a season where head coach Jonathan Gannon needs every inch of stability he can find. The team has its starter and its backup. Now they just need to figure out the offense.
Brissett deserves credit for handling this the right way. He made his point, drew a line in the sand, and then did what professionals do. He showed up.
The Cardinals owe him at least a real conversation before camp starts. He earned that much.
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.
