Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett has made it abundantly clear that he wants an adjusted contract to reflect his status as the team’s starter for the 2026 season.
He skipped Arizona’s first two weeks of OTAs hoping to spur some movement in negotiations, but the team has been unwilling to play ball thus far. Brissett is not at the Cardinals’ final week of OTAs, either, per ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss, with just one week to go until mandatory minicamp.
Brissett is set to earn just $4.88MM in base salary this season with an additional $510k in per-game roster bonuses. He can also earn $1MM for playing 50% of the Cardinal’s offensive snaps and another $1MM for hitting 65%. That is the lowest compensation of any starting quarterback not on a rookie contract. Geno Smith, Kyler Murray, and Tua Tagovailoa are earning less from their current teams, but they are also receiving significant sums from their former clubs.
The Cardinals may have misplayed their hand by making Brissett their presumed starter so early in the year. His grievance may be further compounded by the fact that Arizona signed Gardner Minshew to a $5.75MM deal this offseason to be his backup. The team drafted Carson Beck in the third round of April’s draft, giving them a third option, but new head coach Mike LaFleur prefers the incumbent. However, Brissett now clearly believes he has enough leverage to squeeze a raise out of general manager Monti Ossenfort.
Arizona has over $35MM in cap space, per OverTheCap, so they have the funds to bump Brissett’s pay. But agreeing on a dollar figure may be difficult. The 33-year-old does not profile as the Cardinals’ long-term signal-caller and seems closer to a stopgap option as the team figures out their future at the position – which could include Beck. Kirk Cousins and Justin Fields are on one-year placeholder deals worth roughly $11MM, which would seem like an appropriate raise for Brissett.
But the Cardinals could simply call his bluff and move forward with Minshew and Beck taking most of the practice reps – as they have been this spring – and competing for the starting job. Brissett could continue holding out into next week’s minicamp, which would result in just under $108k in fines if he misses all three days.
Given Arizona’s financial resources, it should be easy enough to come to a resolution. No other team is offering Brissett a starting job, either, and a decade into his career, he is unlikely to receive many similar chances in the future. Staying away from the team until training camp also runs the risk that Minshew or Beck can impress LaFleur enough to unseat Brissett, in which case he would certainly not get a raise.
It is worth noting that OTAs are purely voluntary, and a 10-year veteran like Brissett may prefer to manage his own offseason – though the ongoing installation of LaFleur’s new offense is a major reason to show up. He has never played in an offense orchestrated by a former Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay lieutenant, so there will still be plenty to learn in the new scheme.
In the past, showing up at mandatory minicamp after skipping OTAs has been seen as a good-faith gesture on the player’s part and a sign of progress in contract talks. Brissett’s presence next week will therefore be a key indicator of how things stand between him and the Cardinals.
Did I miss somewhere in this article where a gun was out to his head and forced him to sign his contract?
Maybe he should live up to his commitment first. And earn a new deal when this one is up.
@bigjon. They could just give him a incentive deal with a 10 million base, and i bet he signs it. He signed that for a backup job. they need to restructure it.
“Maybe he should live up to his commitment first”
NFL contracts are by and large not guaranteed. There’s no such thing as a ‘commitment’ in the NFL. Holding out is a tool in Brissett’s arsenal, so he is free to use it. Cardinals are free to move on without him. That’s how this system works, this is how NFL contract negotiations work. Baffling that so many NFL fans can’t wrap their brains around this.
Personal opinion, but given their cap space, Cardinals should just cough up a few million bucks extra and say take it or leave it.
He signed the deal under assumption that he was a backup, in the terms of backup playing emergency games with starting qb hurt and holding clipboard. Just like being hired to be a foreman on the job and they fire the superintendent because he wasn’t meeting expectations and then expects you to do his job on your salary with no raise lol. Think about. Yes it’s a lot of money, but we all want equal pay in our place of employment and position.
They wasted 5.75 mil on noodle arm minshew. The team shouldn’t have signed him at all.
He signed the contract. No one forced him to do that.
Suck it up, earn your millions and strive for a big contract based on your merit next year.
Read my comment above to the other dude who doesn’t seem to understand NFL contract negotiations. You would do the exact same thing in Brissett’s shoes. As should every player. If Justin Fields can earn $11 million this year, Cardinals can throw a few million at Brissett.
IMO, the Cardinals aren’t going to be very good, they should play Beck and save some cash.
I forgot they had Minshew. Just run with Minshew and Beck.
@eznod. That’s why brissett is holding out, because minshew is making more than him, and he’s a backup. Not hard to give him 10 million and 5 million in incentives. Also he knows this probably his last payday because the Cardinals will be lucky to win three games. He will have no market next year.
Play. Your. Deal.
I get why Brissett is upset, in this specific case. However, he must realize that he doesn’t really have any leverage for a holdout. If he stays home, the Cardinals will just roll with their newly signed backup/spot starter and their also newly added draft pick.
Brissett has reason to be ticked, in my mind, but he doesn’t have any real power. Nobody is trading for him to start at the moment, and he’s not integral to the Cards’ future. Now, that said, the organization seems obstinate in how they are handling it, I think. Arizona could easily make this go away by saying, “Look, we know we signed you to this deal as a backup, so we’ll up the salary a bit and guarantee a portion of it, with the rest in incentives based on starting statistics.” Do they have to do that? No, obviously not, but it does send a positive message to Brissett and to other veterans about how the Cardinals do business. They don’t have the most stellar reputation when it comes to that, and rehabbing your reputation a bit while securing your starting quarterback seems like a good trade for a few million.
@Ak185. Yeah i get both sides, but its bad PR just pay the guy 10 million plus incentives that he wont reach because he will get benched by week 6, because the Cardinals suck. Just bad optics for the franchise. That’s why they had the last pick on coaching jobs.
Brissett isn’t bad though, not saying the cardinals are going to the playoffs but I could see him really playing well. Plus this is probably his last chance at a starting job and payday. He has never really got a starting chance with decent weapons
I don’t disagree with any of that all. I agree completely with both you and with Rex.
It’s just that I don’t see him getting what he wants by force. Jacoby right now is looking at the Cards and say “Come back to the table, or else I don’t play.” I just don’t see much teeth to the “or else” portion of it. He has an understandable position morally, but the Cards have other options. They signed Minshew, and they drafted Beck. If Brissett stays away, they’ll roll with either one of those guys.
As I’ve said, I think Arizona should just bite the bullet and sweeten his deal in recognition of how things have changed, and in gratitude for him taking on a larger responsibility. Mostly, though, it won’t be much money, and it easily solves a problem to get your starting quarterback back, and sends a positive message for your organization across the league (which your organization desperately needs). However, I can type it all out as much as I like, but Arizona really will only do it if it wants to. They don’t really have much to lose if Brissett stays away, because they have comparable options in their mind. Brissett will have to report or retire if the Cards don’t budge, even if he has a point in the end.