The Cardinals received “great news” on cornerback Garrett Williams’ recovery from a torn Achilles.
“When I first got here . . . it was like an October/November [return], and now we’re talking about getting into training camp and getting him going,” Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “He’s put so much good work in. What a special human being he is, and what a really good player this defense was missing last year when he went down.”
Williams tore the Achilles in a Week 16 game against the Falcons, leaving uncertainty about how much of the 2026 season he would play.
But LaFleur said “for sure” Williams has a chance to play Week 1.
Running backs James Conner and Trey Benson, tight end Tip Reiman and defensive lineman Walter Nolen III will return during training camp.
Cardinals rookie defensive lineman Kaleb Proctor is at some risk of missing the entire 2026 season.
Head coach Mike LaFleur said at a Wednesday press conference that Proctor tore his meniscus during offseason workouts and is looking at an extended absence as he works his way back to playing condition.
“He’ll miss quite a bit of time if not — I don’t want to say absolute — the whole year,” LaFleur said.
Proctor was a fourth-round pick in April after playing his college ball at Southeastern Louisiana. He had 43 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and nine sacks during the 2025 season.
LaFleur said some other players suffered minor injuries this spring, but none that should be issues when the team gets back together for training camp.
Last year, quarterback Jacoby Brissett signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal to serve as the backup to Kyler Murray. Brissett ended up starting 12 games.
This year, after a couple of months of uncertainty as to the projected top spot on the Arizona depth chart, it eventually became clear that Brissett will be the starter.
And that’s the root of Brissett’s effort to get a contract adjustment.
On Tuesday’s PFT Live, Devin McCourty (who played with Brissett in New England and still communicates with him) confirmed that, from Brissett’s perspective, it’s that simple. He arrived as a backup. He accepted a contract to be a backup. Now that the Cardinals have eased him — almost by default — into the starting role, he would like his deal to be adjusted.
It’s a fair point. And that doesn’t mean he wants to be paid at the high end of the scale. As veteran starters go, $20 million is the baseline.
And that’s a far cry from his current average of $6.25 million per year.
The question is whether the Cardinals will do anything about Brissett’s deal. They don’t have to. And holdouts have become very expensive for players, thanks to the daily fines for skipping training camp.
A hold-in is possible. But no one would benefit from that, especially since there’s a new coaching staff and a new offense in Arizona.
That could open the door for Gardner Minshew or Carson Beck to take the job. Which presumably would be fine with Brissett. He signed to be the backup. If he’s going to be the backup, his contract is fine. If he’s going to be the starter, he deserves a new deal.
Cardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat is attending the team’s mandatory minicamp, but he is not participating.
Coach Mike LaFleur downplayed Sweat’s on-field absence and said he is not worried about Sweat “at all.”
“The situation is, again, he hasn’t practiced,” LaFleur said, via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN. “I’m not going to put a guy out on the field that hasn’t been out there to prep. That’s what Phase One and Phase Two [of the offseason program] are for, to get guys ready for Phase Three. Josh has always done this. Josh has always had his own program, and he’s not the first guy on any team I’ve been a part of that’s been a part of that. In San Francisco, L.A., we’ve always had guys that were kind of like that, and that’s OK. The one thing that you know about Josh is when he’s not in this building, he’s working and I think that shows when he gets out there on the field.”
Sweat missed all of the voluntary offseason program, choosing to work out on his own.
Sweat led the team with a career-high 12 sacks last season. He had signed a four-year, $76.4 million deal with the Cardinals to reunite with coach Jonathan Gannon, who was Sweat’s defensive coordinator in Philadelphia for two seasons.
The Cardinals have reportedly received trade calls regarding Sweat, but a recent report indicated the Cardinals do not intend to trade him.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett and edge rusher Josh Sweat are at the Cardinals’ mandatory minicamp, avoiding the $107,911 fine it would have cost them for missing all three days.
However, Darren Urban of the team website reports that neither player is participating in Tuesday’s session.
Brissett wants a pay raise for this season, while the Cardinals are getting trade calls for Sweat.
Both players skipped the voluntary portion of the team’s offseason program.
Brissett, 33, is entering the second year of a two-year deal he signed in March 2025. He is scheduled to make $4.88 million in 2026, with a max value of $5.39 million, but only $1.5 million is guaranteed.
Sweat led the team with a career-high 12 sacks last season. He had signed a four-year, $76.4 million deal with the Cardinals to reunite with coach Jonathan Gannon, who was Sweat’s defensive coordinator in Philadelphia for two seasons.
A recent report indicated the Cardinals do not intend to trade Sweat.
