Kicker Joshua Karty and defensive lineman P.J. Mustipher are back with the Cardinals.
The exclusive rights free agents signed their one-year tender on Tuesday as players reported for the start of the voluntary strength and conditioning program.
The Cardinals originally signed Karty off the Rams’ practice squad on Dec. 23. However, he did not kick for the Cardinals last season as they also had Chad Ryland, who missed six field goals in the six games before Karty arrived.
Karty and Ryland will battle for the job in training camp under new special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial.
Karty was 10-of-15 on field goals and 23-of-26 on extra points last season before the Rams replaced him with Harrison Mevis.
Mustipher was on the Cardinals’ practice squad his first season in Arizona before making the 53-player roster in 2025.
In 15 games last season, Mustipher had 32 total tackles, one tackle for loss and a pass deflection. He was used in rotation with Dalvin Tomlinson at nose tackle.
The Cardinals signed Roy Lopez to replace Tomlinson but needed depth with the uncertainty surrounding Calais Campbell’s future and Walter Nolen III’s return from injury.
Cardinals Clips
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is generally recognized as the second-best quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft, behind only Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who’s set to go to the Raiders first overall. So where will Simpson go?
If the betting odds are to be believed, the Cardinals or Jets will trade into the late first round to take Simpson.
The Cardinals are +125 favorites to land Simpson, with the Jets just behind them at +145.
But no one expects the Jets or Cardinals, who have the second and third overall picks, to take Simpson with their own first-round picks. Instead, Simpson’s odds project him to go somewhere in the last eight picks of the draft: His over/under and first-round odds suggest he’ll be between the 25th and 32nd picks.
That would mean the Cardinals or Jets trading up from their own first-round picks, No. 33 and No. 34 overall, to move into the late first round and take Simpson. That’s what the Giants did last year when they traded up from the 34th overall pick to the 25th overall pick to draft quarterback Jaxson Dart. That required the Giants to give up third-round picks both last year and this year in the deal, and that’s probably the kind of trade the Cardinals or Jets would be looking to make.
If the Cardinals or Jets don’t draft Simpson, the team with the next-best odds to take him is the Rams at +425, followed by the Browns at +650 and Steelers at +800.
Arvell Reese may not make it past the second overall pick in the draft later this month, but other teams at the top of the draft order will be ready if he does slip past the Jets.
NFL Media reports that Reese has visited with four of the next seven teams on the draft board, including the three teams slated to pick directly after the Jets at No. 2. The edge rusher has spent time with the Cardinals, Titans, and Giants as well as the Chiefs. Kansas City has the ninth overall pick.
Per the report, Reese has also met with the Cowboys, who have the No. 12 pick.
It seems unlikely that Reese will be available if Dallas stays put, but the Cowboys do have a pair of first-round picks this year — the Chiefs do as well — so they could try to make a jump up the board if they are convinced Reese is their guy.
Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey is one of the top prospects in the 2026 draft, a likely top-10 pick.
He spent the week visiting with the Cowboys and the Chiefs and took a top-30 visit to the Cardinals the week after the Scouting Combine, NFL Media reports.
The Cardinals draft third, the Chiefs ninth and the Cowboys 12th.
Dallas, though, also has the 20th overall pick, so it could seek to move up to select Bailey, who would fill a big need.
Bailey has also visited the Titans, according to Jim Wyatt of the team website. The Titans draft fourth overall.
Bailey, 22, began his collegiate career at Stanford before transferring to Texas Tech for his senior season. He earned unanimous All-America honors and was Big 12 defensive lineman of the year.
In his four-year college career, Bailey totaled 163 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 29 sacks and 10 forced fumbles in 46 games.
Offseason programs will start getting underway around the NFL next week.
The ten teams that hired new coaches this offseason will be eligible to start working with their players on Monday, April 6. The Ravens are the only team that has set that as their first day of work while the Cardinals, Falcons, Bills, Browns, Raiders, Dolphins, Giants, Steelers and Titans have set Tuesday as their opening day.
All of those teams will also be able to hold a voluntary minicamp later in the spring. Every team is also scheduled to hold a rookie minicamp and a mandatory minicamp over the course of the next few months.
The first two weeks of work for all teams is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only. The three-week second phase allows for on-field work, but no full-speed team drills while the third OTA phase allows for team drills, but there is no live contact allowed at any point in the offseason.
Most of the 22 teams with returning coaches will be opening their offseason programs on April 20 or 21. The Broncos have set May 4 as their first day.
The decision of quarterback Kirk Cousins to sign with the Raiders removes from the board a potential backup option for the Rams. And it potentially kicks the door a little wider for a return by Jimmy Garoppolo.
Via Nate Atkins of The Athletic, Garoppolo is currently “weighing a few options” as he plans his next move.
He doesn’t need to rush; since entering the league in 2014, Garoppolo has made $156 million. His days as a starter are likely over, but there’s still a need for him.
The Cardinals were interested. After talks hit a snag, Arizona pivoted to Gardner Minshew. It’s still possible, in theory, that Garoppolo could supplant Jacoby Brissett there.
The Packers also need a veteran backup. They were interested in Cousins. Perhaps they could also be interested in Garoppolo.
He also could wait. Injuries happen. Urgency could lead to better financial offers. Now 34, he doesn’t need to rush into the wrong spot. He can wait for the right one, whenever and wherever it may emerge.
Carson Beck and Ty Simpson are making some of the same stops as they make the pre-draft rounds of NFL teams.
NFL Media reports that Beck and Simpson are both slated for meetings with the Cardinals and Dolphins ahead of next month’s draft. Both quarterbacks have also spent time with the Jets already.
Simpson had a brief meeting with the Cardinals at the Combine as well and their head coach Mike LaFleur called him a “good dude and we’ll see where it goes.”
Beck has also met with the Steelers while Simpson has spent time with the Browns as he works to find a home in the NFL.
It became obvious late last season that Kyler Murray had played his final game for the Cardinals. The team kept him on injured reserve with a foot injury, with his last of five starts in 2025 coming on Oct. 5.
Mike LaFleur, though, wouldn’t discuss Murray’s future after his hiring as the team’s head coach.
Now that the Cardinals officially released Murray, who signed with the Vikings, LaFleur addressed Murray’s departure after seven seasons.
“Like I’ve said about Kyler, a lot of respect for him. Wish him the best,” LaFleur said Monday at the NFL owners meetings, via Donnie Druin of SI.com. “Did some good stuff here, but sometimes it’s time for change for both sides. Again, wish him the best. Will never wish ill will on anybody.”
Murray, the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, played under two head coaches in Arizona. He will not play for LaFleur.
He leaves after one playoff appearance, two Pro Bowls, 121 passing touchdowns, 60 interceptions and 32 rushing touchdowns.
“Like I just said, it’s one of those things where it’s good for both parties to part ways if you will,” LaFleur said. “Again, we wish him the best. He had a lot of success here. I know when I was on the other sideline, albeit [I’m not] Robert Saleh or one of the defensive coaches — he was a problem. Again, wish him all the success, but we felt like this was the best thing to move forward.”
The Cardinals signed Gardner Minshew to join Jacoby Brissett in the quarterbacks room, and the team could draft a quarterback to join them.
“Let’s call it what it is: The quarterback position is the most important position in all of sports. We know that,” LaFleur said. “So there were lengthy conversations in so many different aspects of [the position], and there will continue to be until we figure out how we have the most perfect room possible. I like where we’re at right now, but like we said, if there’s a guy to add, we’re going to add [him].”
The Bills made three additions to their 2026 roster on Thursday.
The team announced it signed center Lloyd Cushenberry III, wide receiver Trent Sherfield Sr. and center/guard Austin Corbett to one-year contracts.
Cushenberry’s last stop was a two-year stint with the Titans, where he started every game he appeared in (23) at center.
He began his career with the Broncos as a third-round draft pick in 2020, and he spent four seasons in Denver. He started 57 games for the Broncos.
Sherfield previously played for Buffalo in 2023.
In his first stint with the Bills, Sherfield made 11 catches for 86 yards and one touchdown.
Sherfield spent the 2025 season with the Broncos and on the practice squads of the Cardinals and Patriots. In 10 games and three starts with the Broncos, he caught three passes for 21 yards.
He started his career with the Cardinals in 2018, signing as an undrafted free agent.
Sherfield has also spent time with the 49ers, Dolphins and Vikings.
Corbett, who visited the Bills on Monday, spent the past four seasons with the Panthers.
He played all 17 games in 2022, his first season in Carolina, but missed 29 of a possible 51 games over the past three seasons.
The Browns made him a second-round pick in 2018, and he played 14 games before Cleveland traded him to the Rams during the 2019 season.
In his career, Corbett has appeared in 94 games with 78 starts.
Veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins is looking for a new NFL team. He’s hoping to tap into an old connection.
Hopkins recently told TMZ that he’d like to reunite with quarterback Kyler Murray in Minnesota.
“Kyler . . . that’s my bro, man,” Hopkins said. “Kyler is like family. Whatever I can do for someone like that -- if Kyler needed me, if the Vikings need me, they know I’ll be there.”
The remark reconfirms the perception that Murray is the new starter in Minnesota (or, at a minimum, that it’s Murray’s job to lose).
The more pressing question for Hopkins is whether the Vikings envision a spot for him in the lineup. The depth chart is led by Justin Jefferson, obviously. Jordan Addison is the No. 2, as he approaches the last year of his first-round rookie deal. (The question of whether they’ll exercise his fifth-year option may not be the no-brainer it once seemed to be.) Jalen Nailor, mainly a slot receiver, left in free agency.
Hopkins has a specific and unique skill set. He displayed it during Saturday’s flag football event, boxing out an overmatched Team USA defender to make a one-handed catch of the undersized ball.
Hopkins turns 34 in June. He overlapped with Murray in Arizona from 2020 through 2022. He caught the Hail Murray touchdown pass amid a sea of Buffalo defenders, capping arguably the highlight of Murray’s career to date.
The challenge becomes setting aside Hopkins’s past achievements and assessing his expected contributions as of 2026. He had limited opportunities with the Ravens in 2025, catching 41 passes on 59 targets for 437 yards and four touchdowns.
Still, Hopkins could be a potent weapon in the red zone, giving Murray an option for jump balls in the back corner if/when the defense focuses on Jefferson.
