Mike LaFleur Insists Jacoby Brissett Contract Standoff Was Never A Cardinals Distraction
The Arizona Cardinals finally have Jacoby Brissett back in the building, and head coach Mike LaFleur wants everyone to know the four-month contract standoff never actually got in the way of anything.
“It hasn’t been a distraction by any means,” LaFleur told reporters, via Darren Urban of the team’s official website. “We have very mature and professional players. We have a mature roster. Never thought it was ever a distraction but it’s one less thing we have to talk about, or that they have to read about. We can move on with the football aspect of it.”
Sure, coach. Nobody was thinking about it.
Coaches always say this. That is fine. What matters more than the quote is the deal itself. Arizona gave Brissett a $10 million raise on his existing contract. He is now set to make $15.5 million this season with incentives that could push the total to $21 million. He originally signed a 2-year, $12.5 million deal with the Cardinals as a free agent in 2025.
The reworked money is a small win for Brissett given how the 2025 season actually went. He started 12 games, went 1-11, and finished with 3,366 yards, 23 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a 64.9 percent completion rate. Those are perfectly respectable backup quarterback numbers packaged inside a truly ugly team result.
The 33-year-old is not going to turn Arizona into a playoff team by himself. He has never been that guy anywhere he has played. What he offers is a professional, poised presence who does not throw the ball to the other team and can hold a locker room together while the front office figures out its longer-term plan at the position.
For LaFleur, keeping Brissett in the fold matters more than the money. The offense he is trying to install requires a quarterback who can operate at the line of scrimmage without going off script.
The contract situation dragged. Brissett skipped the offseason program. LaFleur can call that “one less thing” all he wants, but it definitely was a thing. The Cardinals losing a full spring of continuity with their veteran quarterback is not nothing.
The upside is that the entire saga is over before pads come on. Brissett is at camp, working with new teammates like rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, and he even had a great quote about the rookie after his first look at him in practice. That is a much better July talking point than a contract holdout.
Now the Cardinals just need him to play better than 1-11 to make any of this feel worth it.
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.
