Jacoby Brissett who is in his first season as a starter for the Cardinals, was named one of five captains for the team this season.
On Monday, the Cardinals announced results of the players’ captainship vote from Thursday.
Center Hjalte Froholdt was the other offensive captain. Safety Budda Baker and linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. were the defensive captains. Long snapper Casey Kreiter will represent the special teams.
“Whether you are a captain or not a captain, you be who you are within your own personality,” coach Mike LaFleur said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “When you do get voted a captain, that says your teammates and the locker room looks up to you.
“I can’t think of five better people to look up to, in terms of guys who will keep it real with each other, hold people to standards, communicate with me. I don’t need to know everything that’s going on in the locker room. I just need to know what’s pertinent.”
It is the fifth consecutive season for Baker to serve as a captain. Froholdt and Wilson are repeat picks, after becoming captains for the first time in their careers last year.
“There were quite a few guys who I won’t mention who were right up there in the running for it,” LaFleur said. “These guys are still going to have a voice, too. And some of it will be through the silent tape, if that makes sense. That’s as important as anything, actually what you’re doing [on the field].”
Cardinals Clips
Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love injured his ankle in an Aug. 13 preseason game against the Raiders. It was diagnosed as a high-ankle sprain, and he has not practiced or played since.
Love is moving closer to a return, though, and coach Mike LaFleur insinuated that the rookie did something on the practice field Monday.
“Progressing,” LaFleur said, via Bo Brack of PHNX Cardinals. “He was out there moving around today. We’ll see on Wednesday. I’ll have a better idea for all those guys [who are injured].”
The Cardinals will have their first injury report of the season on Wednesday, which will be the first indication of where Love is in his rehab. LaFleur was asked about his optimism for the third overall pick to play against the Chargers.
“Yeah, I feel good,” LaFleur said.
Love had 14 touches for 73 yards in the first half of the only preseason game he played.
Training camp opened with four, and potentially five, NFL quarterback competitions.
In the end, all five jobs went to the older of the two primary contenders.
The first decision came in Minnesota, where Kyler Murray prevailed over 2024 top-10 selection J.J. McCarthy in the first competition to be resolved, before the first preseason game. The backup job there also has apparently gone to the older player, with Carson Wentz seemingly leapfrogging McCarthy. (The Vikings have yet to release their Week 1 depth chart.)
Minnesota will enter the season with three former high first-round picks in their quarterback room. Murray was No. 1 overall in 2019, and Wentz was the second overall pick in 2016.
The next decision was made by the Browns, where Deshaun Watson was made the starter (at least for Week 1 and likely Week 2) two weeks ago today, over 2025 fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders. Watson was the 12th overall pick in 2017.
Last week, the Raiders finally declared that Kirk Cousins, who entered the league as a fourth-round pick in 2012, would start Week 1 over Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in 2026.
And now the Falcons have gone with Tua Tagovailoa, pick No. 5 in 2020, over Michael Penix Jr., the eighth overall selection in 2024. That one feels even more tenuous than Watson in Cleveland; the Falcons were hoping Penix would be ready to go. Ultimately, they decided he wasn’t — and Tua got the nod over Cooper Rush (who’s technically older than Tua).
The fifth competition never became one, because Jacoby Brissett got a new deal done before a hold in gave Gardner Minshew or Carson Beck a chance to learn the new offense and potentially supplant Brissett.
In many situations, winning the starting job to start the season means securing the privilege of eventually being benched. That’s a very real possibility for Watson, Cousins, and Tagovailoa. The safest of them all is Murray, who was likely signed to be the starter — and who is playing for a team that wants to have the same quarterback in place for all 17 regular-season games.
Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson got his long-awaited contract extension this week, keeping him under contract through the 2029 season. It is what he wanted.
“I want to be a centerpiece of trying to flip something,” Wilson said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “That’s way more gratifying and rewarding going through the dark days and tough times when you’ve lost bad games, when there is more Niner fans than Arizona fans [in the stands]. How cool would it be . . . when we are in the race of the playoffs or a playoff team or in the playoffs and being a centerpiece of turning the tides? That sense of loyalty, that just screams the type of player and person I want to be.
“I’ve got so much love for Arizona. Not even tied to the franchise, I could see myself living here the rest of my life.”
While letting his agent handle contract talks, Wilson wasn’t sure the deal would get done before the start of the season. A report Wednesday morning indicated a deal was unlikely, with Wilson set to enter free agency in March.
Wilson saw the report.
“Conversations happened, tides turned and things got done,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t even sleep [with excitement after the deal got done Wednesday night].”
Wilson caught 85 passes for 1,113 yards and seven touchdowns over his first two seasons. The Cardinals wide receiver had 78 receptions for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
The team sees him as part of the foundation for the rebuild.
“His approach every single day, it’s just so consistent,” coach Mike LaFleur said. “It’s the meeting rooms, his attention to detail, just how he goes about his business. He’s the perfect example of, ‘Don’t mistake his kindness for weakness.’ This dude is a tough dude, and I’ve gotten to see a little bit more. I knew it, and I’ve seen it, but then you get to see it even a little bit more during competition.”
The Cardinals have crossed the proverbial goal line and are locking up one of their key young offensive players.
According to a joint report from ESPN and NFL Network, receiver Michael Wilson has agreed to a three-year extension with the club.
Wilson, a third-round pick in 2023, was entering the last year of his rookie contract.
The deal is worth $75 million with a maximum value of $78 million with $47 million guaranteed.
Josh Weinfuss of ESPN reported on Wednesday night that there had been “movement” in negotiations and that a deal could happen before the end of the week.
Wilson, 26, set career highs last season with 78 receptions, 1,006 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns.
In his 46 career games with 38 starts, Wilson has caught 163 passes for 2,119 yards with 14 TDs.
The Cardinals will open the 2026 season on the road against the Chargers on Sept. 13.
The Cardinals and the representation for wide receiver Michael Wilson have negotiated a contract extension for awhile. Just when it appeared Wilson would enter the season in the final year of his rookie deal, comes word that the sides have made progress.
Josh Weinfuss of ESPN reports that there has been “movement” in negotiations and “something could come down in the next day or so.”
Wilson caught 85 passes for 1,113 yards and seven touchdowns over his first two seasons. The Cardinals wide receiver had 78 receptions for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
Wilson’s 593 routes for the season were the third-most in the NFL.
He spoke about his contract earlier this offseason, saying “ultimately that stuff is going to take care of itself.”
The offseason consisted of a rumor that the Cardinals would be trading linebacker Josh Sweat to the Packers. On Tuesday, the man in charge of the Green Bay roster denied that it was ever a possibility.
“No one from our organization has had a conversation about Josh Sweat from anyone at Arizona,” Gutekunst said, via Ryan Wood of USA Today. “That’s coming out of thin air, someone is making stuff up, because that never happened.”
A report emerged in the offseason that the Cardinals were receiving calls about Sweat. And the Packers made sense on the surface; Sweat reunited with former Eagles offensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon after Gannon became the head coach of the Cardinals. With Gannon now the defensive coordinator in Green Bay, it’s a logical connection of the dots.
And to the extent the Packers had any interest in Sweat, it wouldn’t have taken much to kick-start a conversation. The Brothers LaFleur coach the two teams. It would have been easy for Matt to gauge with Mike whether a deal would have been possible.
Sweat is entering the second season of a four-year, $76 million deal with the Cardinals. In 17 starts last season, Sweat had 12.0 sacks.
The Packers signed quarterback Kedon Slovis to the practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.
He joins Jordan Love and Tyrod Taylor in the team’s quarterbacks room.
The Cardinals cut Slovis on Sunday.
Slovis, 25, signed with the Cardinals’ practice squad in 2025, and he earned a spot on the active roster on Oct. 11. He played two games, getting five snaps and completing 1 of 2 passes for minus-1 yard.
The Cardinals chose to keep Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew II and Carson Beck at the position for this season.
Slovis has also spent time with the Colts and the Texans.
At this point, it’s unclear whether or not Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love will be available for Arizona’s season opener.
Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Love is “about 50/50” to play Week 1 with an ankle sprain.
Love suffered the injury in Las Vegas’ preseason opener on Aug. 13. He tallied 14 touches in that contest, with 11 rushing attempts for 58 yards and three receptions for 14 yards. Head coach Mike LaFleur said the plan was for Love, the No. 4 overall pick of the year’s draft, to get double-digit touches in that preseason game.
Via Darren Urban of the team’s website, LaFleur said on Monday that Love is “progressing” but did not touch on the running back’s availability for Week 1.
The team’s first injury report for its matchup against the Chargers will be released on Sept. 9.
The Cardinals are getting one of their young offensive players back on the field this week.
Via Theo Mackie of The Arizona Republic, head coach Mike LaFleur said in his Monday press conference that rookie quarterback Carson Beck will return to practice this week.
Beck will be a full participant in the sessions.
Beck has been sidelined with a rib injury suffered in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 6. While he did practice for a week after the injury, the Cardinals then shut him down to give Beck time to heal.
A third-round pick in this year’s draft, Beck completed 15-of-19 passes for 188 yards with a touchdown in his preseason debut.
While the Cardinals will start Jacoby Brissett to begin the season, it’s possible Beck will be in line to start some games down the road in 2026, depending on how Arizona’s season progresses.
