Cardinals, RB Tyler Allgeier Agree To Deal
The Cardinals will retain James Conner for 2026. He will have a new teammate in the backfield for 2026, however.
Arizona has agreed to terms with Tyler Allgeier, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. This will be a two-year, $12.25MM pact. Allgeier will again find himself as part of a running back tandem after being in such a situation with the Falcons.
Allgeier once appeared to be the Falcons future RB. The 2022 fifth-round pick had a strong rookie campaign, finishing with 1,174 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns. However, the organization used the eighth-overall pick on Bijan Robinson in 2023, and Allgeier proceeded to start only five games over the following three years.
Still, the RB managed to carve out an important role in Atlanta. Allgeier finished his sophomore campaign with 876 yards from scrimmage, and he added another 732 yards in 2024. Robinson’s league-leading 2,298 yards in 2025 led to a career-low 610 yards for Allgeier. Still, the RB2 managed to finish with a career-high eight touchdowns.
It will be interesting to see how the roles shake out in Arizona in 2026. Conner topped 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first four seasons with the Cardinals, culminating in a 2024 campaign where he collected a career-high 1,508 offensive yards. However, the veteran was limited to only three games this past year thanks to a season-ending foot injury. He should be ready to go for 2026, but there’s a chance he returns to a split backfield with Allgeier now on the roster.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Cardinals, P Blake Gillikin Agree To Deal
A back injury limited Blake Gillikin to just five games in 2025. The veteran punter is now healthy, though, and he will remain in Arizona for next year. 
[RELATED: Previewing Cardinals’ Offseason]
Gillikin has agreed to a one-year Cardinals deal, Mike Garafolo, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report. The pact has a maximum value of $2.65MM, which would represent a raise compared to each of his previous contracts. Gillikin has served as Arizona’s punter since 2023.
During his debut Cardinals season, the former Saint averaged 50.6 yards per punt. He topped that figure when on the field in 2025, averaging 51.7 yards per punt in limited action. Provided Gillikin has managed to heal in full, expectations will remain high in his case. A healthy campaign in 2026 could lead to a longer commitment next spring.
Arizona signed Pat O’Donnell to serve as Gillikin’s replacement after the latter landed on injured reserve. O’Donnell played five games for the Cardinals but was released in November. Matt Haack also saw game action with Arizona in 2025, totaling seven appearances. He is a pending free agent, and today’s news certainly points to a departure on the open market.
With Gillikin’s new contract taken care of, the Cardinals will have plenty of stability on special teams. Earlier today, the team agreed to a new deal with kicker Chad Ryland. Long snapper Aaron Brewer is on course for free agency, so it will be interesting to see if he winds up being retained as well.
Cardinals To Re-Sign K Chad Ryland
Chad Ryland has been with Arizona since early in the 2024 season. Another Cardinals contract has now been worked out in his case. 
Ryland has agreed to a one-year deal, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports. He worked as the Cardinals’ kicker for 13 games in 2024 and did so again on a full-time basis the following season. Team and player worked out a two-year pact last time around, but this latest one will allow Ryland to compete for the kicking gig in 2026.
The former Patriots draftee only lasted one year in New England. After struggling during his rookie campaign, Ryland was waived by the Patriots. That was followed in short order by a Cardinals practice squad agreement, and he soon found himself on the active roster. Ryland connected on 28 of 32 field goal tries in 2024 with Arizona, including a perfect mark (four-for-four) from beyond 50 yards.
A drop in accuracy took place this past season. Ryland saw his FG mark drop to 75.8%, missing eight total attempts. Four of those came from beyond 50 yards, though, and expectations will remain high at least from close range moving forward. Ryland, 26, was on course for restricted free agency this spring. Instead of issuing a tender in this case, the Cardinals have opted to work out a one-year pact which will no doubt check in near the league minimum.
Joshua Karty signed with Arizona in December after his Rams tenure came to an end. Karty is likely on course to receive an exclusive rights free agent tender in the near future. That would set up a training camp competition with Ryland for the 2026 kicking role.
Cardinals Revise Contracts Of RB James Conner, CB Sean Murphy-Bunting
James Conner‘s immediate future is no longer in question. The veteran running back will remain in place for the Cardinals for 2026. 
Team and player have agreed to a revised contract, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports. Conner is on the books for one more year, and he was originally scheduled to carry a cap charge of $9.83MM while earning a base salary of $6.39MM. One or both figures will presumably be lowered as a result of today’s move.
[RELATED: Previewing Cardinals’ Offseason]
Conner, 31 in May, was limited to just three games in 2025 due to an ankle injury. That led to questions about a potential trade or release ahead of the final year of his contract, but instead the two-time Pro Bowler will play a sixth season in Arizona. Conner has been a key figure on offense throughout his Cardinals tenure, and while the team will likely explore running back investments this spring he will once again be counted on to handle a heavy workload if healthy.
Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting has also worked out a restructured contract, per Pelissero’s colleague Mike Garafolo. A knee injury suffered in the spring led to surgery and landed him on the reserve/NFI list. That ensured Murphy-Bunting would miss the entire 2025 campaign. He too will enter the coming season as a pending free agent.
Murphy-Bunting was due $7.5MM for next year prior to his revision; a pay cut could also be in store in this case, something which would lower his cap hit from its scheduled $9.25MM figure. A release would have yielded notable cap savings, but instead Arizona will bank on Murphy-Bunting returning to full health. In that event, the former Buccaneer and Titan will likely be counted on to handle a starting role.
The Cardinals entered Sunday with roughly $48MM in cap space, putting them in much better financial shape than many other teams at this time of year. Nevertheless, Arizona will likely generate even more flexibility with these restructures. Given their respective health and contract statuses, it will be interesting to see how both Conner and Murphy-Bunting fare in 2026.
Kyler Murray Eyeing Vikings; Jets Showing Interest
The Cardinals are moving on from Kyler Murray. A last-ditch trade effort is still taking place, but absent that, Arizona is prepared to release its longtime starter. Two usual suspects are on the radar here.
Vikings interest in Murray has come out at multiple points this offseason, but Sportsboom.com’s Jason La Canfora indicates the soon-to-be unattached quarterback would prefer a Minnesota deal. Though, the Jets will present a clearer path to a starting job.
New York has been connected to some lower-profile names, from Tanner McKee to Jarrett Stidham to Tyson Bagent; a recent report has now tied the team to a Frank Reich–Carson Wentz reunion. That would certainly be an uninspired path for the Jets, who would seemingly be prepared to chase a 2027 first-round QB if Wentz truly became the stopgap option. But La Canfora indicates the Jets appear to be the team “most desperate” for Murray.
Murray, 28, will be looking for a place to bounce back, and ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini views the quarterback as unlikely to share the Jets’ level of interest here. The Vikings have elevated a few veteran quarterbacks’ stocks — from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold to Daniel Jones — under Kevin O’Connell, but they are still developing J.J. McCarthy.
Adam La Rose’s most recent PFR mailbag addressed the line the Vikings are attempting to walk in trying to upgrade at QB while still having hopes for McCarthy, and Murray throwing himself into that mix would be interesting. Jones passed on this last year, choosing a Colts starter path despite the Vikings offering more money. Murray, however, is a different type of free agent. The Cardinals are on the hook for his 2026 salary, making fit the priority as opposed to an offer. This is similar to Russell Wilson‘s 2024 market, when he signed with the Steelers for the veteran minimum (as the Broncos paid the bulk of his tab).
New Jets OC Frank Reich is also believed to be high on Jacoby Brissett from their time together in Indianapolis, Cimini adds, and La Canfora notes the Cardinals have received trade offers on Brissett — whom last year’s staff appeared to prefer guiding the offense compared to Murray.
The Jets have been previously connected to Brissett, who is tied to a two-year, $12.5MM Cardinals deal. Reich coached Brissett from 2018-20 in Indy. Brissett looms as a Cardinals stopgap option, and GM Monti Ossenfort signed him last year. But with Malik Willis and Jimmy Garoppolo connections forming, will Arizona be too attached to its primary 2025 starter? La Canfora also ties Garoppolo to the Cards, which will make a Brissett trade — as several teams are looking for starters ahead of a thin QB draft — something to monitor.
With Murray needing to show he remains capable of above-average play, his upcoming choice will be critical. At 5-foot-10, the former No. 1 overall pick will not be a fit for every offense. He certainly ran into obstacles during the back half of his Cardinals career. If he is not traded, enough Minnesota smoke has emerged to indicate there will be some mutual interest here.
As for the Jets, they have also been doing some homework on Tua Tagovailoa. The longtime Dolphins starter also has his 2026 salary guaranteed; both he and Murray are likely to be vet-minimum options in bounce-back scenarios. As of now, though, Murray is believed to be driving more interest than Tagovailoa.
Jets Could Add 2 Veteran QBs; Carson Wentz At Top Of List
The Jets need a quarterback. More specifically, they need a young, long-term face of the franchise, the likes of which they have lacked since Joe Namath.
But the 2026 draft class only has one high-end quarterback prospect: Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who is widely expected to be drafted by the Raiders with the first overall pick. A number of college passers decided to return to school for the 2026 season, leaving New York high and dry with the No. 2 selection.
The Jets would be best served by waiting until the quarterback-rich 2027 draft, in which the No. 1 pick will not be required to land an exciting young passer. In the meantime, though, they will need someone to pass the ball to Garrett Wilson, Mason Taylor, and Adonai Mitchell.
That ‘someone’ could very well be two players. The Jets could take a similar approach to their quarterback room as their stadium-mates did last year. The Giants signed both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in free agency – which did not stop them from trading up into the first-round to draft Jaxson Dart – with the intention of letting the starting competition play out without too much pressure on any one player.
Of the available free agents, new Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich prefers a familiar face, per SNY’s Connor Hughes: Carson Wentz. The two worked together in Indianapolis in 2021 when Reich was the Colts’ head coach. He traded for Wentz despite his sharp regression in Philadelphia the year before, and the former No. 1 pick posted a resurgent season. The Colts moved on from Wentz the following offseason, though the split was driven more by the front office and ownership than by Reich and his coaching staff.
Geno Smith, who was released on Friday, is another option named by Hughes. So, too, is Jacoby Brissett, though he is still under contract with the Cardinals and they do not intend to move him. However, if Jimmy Garoppolo follows Mike LaFleur from Los Angeles to Arizona, Brissett could become available for the Jets.
The Jets have also been connected with veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone, but they are expected to have competition for his signature. They could then pivot to Micah McFadden, a 2022 fifth-rounder who started 35 games for the Giants in his first three NFL seasons but missed virtually all of 2025 due to a foot injury. The Jets have interest in McFadden, but so do the Giants, via both Hughes and ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. Depending on the state of his foot, the 26-year-old may need to consider a one-year, ‘prove-it’ deal, but interest from multiple teams could give him enough leverage for a better deal.
Cardinals To Cut DT Dalvin Tomlinson
Dalvin Tomlinson will be a cap casualty for a second straight year. After the Browns released the veteran defensive tackle in 2025, ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss reports the Cardinals are moving on.
Arizona will save $9.4MM by releasing the nomadic defensive lineman, moving its cap-space figure past $48MM. PFR’s Cardinals Offseason Outlook tabbed Tomlinson as a logical release candidate, and the team is separating from the nine-year veteran after a disappointing season.
[RELATED: Cardinals Planning To Release Kyler Murray]
Landing on his feet after the Browns release, Tomlinson agreed to a two-year deal worth $29MM. Although the former Giants and Vikings interior D-lineman started 17 Cardinals games, the season did not go as the team hoped. As the Cardinals slogged to a 3-14 finish — which included a significant defensive regression — Pro Football Focus graded Tomlinson 114th overall among qualified interior D-linemen.
This exit will mark Tomlinson’s first one-and-done stay. After spending four years in New York on a rookie contract, Tomlinson scored a two-year, $21MM Vikings accord. He build up his value in Minnesota, securing a four-year pact worth $57MM in Cleveland to start Jim Schwartz‘s DC tenure. The Browns used Tomlinson as a full-time starter but designated him as a post-June 1 cut last year.
The Cardinals, who employed future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt and future first-team All-Pro Zach Allen together up from 2021-22, have seen some of their D-line investments since fail to deliver much. PFF graded 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson as the NFL’s worst interior D-lineman last season. Calais Campbell, as he always does, played well but has not decided if he will play an age-40 season. If Campbell does return, he is not a lock to stay in Arizona — even with the team retaining DC Nick Rallis despite firing Jonathan Gannon.
While the Cardinals also used a first-round pick on D-lineman Walter Nolen last year — ahead of what became an injury-plagued rookie season — they have a need up front yet again. Tomlinson, who turned 32 last month, will try his luck in free agency again. Although the former second-round pick has fared well on the market each time he has tried, his next contract will undoubtedly be a fraction of his previous pacts.
Rams Want To Re-Sign Jimmy Garoppolo; Cardinals Still On Radar
After two years as Matthew Stafford‘s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo may be in store for a raise — as a potential return to the starter level awaits. But his current team is interested in another deal.
The Rams have had Garoppolo on $3.18MM and $3.1MM contracts over the past two years. This came after the Raiders ditched the veteran’s three-year, $72.75MM deal after one season. If a starting job could be open elsewhere, it would stand to reason Garoppolo would be leaving L.A. But the Rams want to keep him.
[RELATED: Rams To Acquire CB Trent McDuffie From Chiefs]
“I love Jimmy; I would absolutely want him back,” Sean McVay said. “I did see those reports too on Mike [LaFleur] trying to steal our guy, but no, Jimmy’s a really good player and so we would love him back.
“I’m sure he’ll have multiple opportunities and then we’ll see where we’re at. You guys know how I feel about him when we’ve spoken about him and we would love him back. I’m also not naive to the fact that he’ll probably have a lot of opportunities and if those are things that he wants to pursue that give him a chance to play, I would understand that.”
A Garoppolo-Cardinals connection emerged recently, and CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones adds Arizona is still believed to be interested. In that scenario, Garoppolo would be following LaFleur to Arizona. LaFleur spent the past two seasons coaching Garoppolo with the Rams. The Dolphins have also emerged as a potential suitor, as their upcoming Tua Tagovailoa release — which will bring a record-smashing $99.2MM in dead money spread over two years (in the expected post-June 1 scenario) — will hamstring the AFC East club.
Garoppolo, 34, was tied to a five-year, $137.5MM 49ers contract — a record at the time of signing (February 2018) — and he reunited with Josh McDaniels in Vegas. Garoppolo’s rough 2023 Raiders stay banished him to the QB2 level, but with a number of vacancies opening up this offseason, there appears to be an appetite for another opportunity — most likely as a bridge option.
The Rams are unlikely to pay Garoppolo too much more than they gave him in 2024 or ’25; in the event multiple other teams get involved, L.A. would presumably need a new backup. McVay helped Baker Mayfield rehab his career during a 2022 partnership, and the Rams moved to Carson Wentz in ’23. Stafford stayed healthy throughout this season, but the reigning MVP has played through injuries during much of his career. Garoppolo represents a much bigger risk, as the Cardinals or Dolphins would need to have a capable backup due to the former 49ers and Raiders starter’s 32 missed games due to injury from 2018-22. But he may have another shot to start somewhere again soon.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/5/26
Here are today’s RFA and ERFA tender calls:
RFAs
Non-tendered:
- Cardinals: RB Emari Demercado
- Falcons: DL Sam Roberts
- Jets: WR John Metchie
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Buccaneers: LS Evan Deckers
- Cowboys: CB Josh Butler
- Jets: DT Jowon Briggs, LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball
- Raiders: S Tristin McCollum, C Will Putnam, DE Charles Snowden
- Titans: G Garrett Dellinger, DL C.J. Ravenell
Cardinals Release Akeem Davis-Gaither, Bilal Nichols
The Cardinals have released linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols, per Field Yates of ESPN. They cut Nichols with a failed physical designation.
Davis-Gaither worked as a backup during his first five seasons in Cincinnati, which chose him in Round 4 of the 2020 draft. He became a starter for the Cardinals after they handed him a two-year, $11MM deal last March.
During his second 17-game season in a row, Davis-Gaither notched career highs in tackles (117), starts (13) and passes defensed (five). He led all Cardinals linebackers in snap share (68.15%) and pulled in the third interception of his career along the way. Pro Football Focus was unimpressed, though, as the outlet ranked the 28-year-old’s performance 71st among 88 qualifying LBs.
A former Bear and Raider, Nichols signed a three-year, $21MM contract with the Cardinals in March 2024. Nichols was coming off three straight 17-game seasons at that point, but health eluded him in Arizona. The 300-pounder totaled 10 tackles in six games (five starts) before a stinger forced him to season-ending injured reserve in October 2024.
When assembling their roster at the end of August last year, the Cardinals placed Nichols on the reserve/PUP list with a neck injury. They activated Nichols before Week 5, but the 29-year-old wound up totaling just four appearances and three tackles in 2025. Arizona sent Nichols to IR with knee injury in mid-December, ending his second and last season in its uniform. He made 13 tackles in 10 games as a Cardinal.
In moving on from Davis-Gaither and Nichols, the Cardinals will save around $11MM in cap space. They now have approximately $39.7MM available as the new league year approaches.