Jacoby Brissett is skipping voluntary workouts and pushing for a starter-level deal in Arizona
The Arizona Cardinals entered the 2026 offseason with a long list of questions and no shortage of complications. Today, one of the most pressing surfaced in the form of a quarterback holdout, and the ripple effects could reach all the way to draft weekend.
Jacoby Brissett, 33, is absent from the team’s voluntary Phase 1 offseason workouts and is seeking a contract extension that compensates him as a genuine starter, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The timing is pointed. Brissett currently has just $1.5 million in guaranteed money remaining on his deal, a figure that offers little financial security for a player who stepped in as the team’s primary starter for much of last season and now finds himself at the top of a depth chart that has been reshuffled considerably since January.
How Arizona’s quarterback room got here
The Cardinals released Kyler Murray on March 3, bringing an end to a turbulent chapter that saw the former No. 1 overall pick shut down with a foot injury during the 2025 season. Murray has since signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings. That departure left Brissett, who had been brought in on a two-year, $12.5 million contract in 2025, as the most experienced option in the building.
Arizona then added Gardner Minshew on a one-year, $5.75 million deal, a contract that comes nearly fully guaranteed, creating an awkward contrast with Brissett’s far more precarious situation. Head coach Mike LaFleur’s staff had also been in discussions with Jimmy Garoppolo before those talks fell apart, which ultimately led to the Minshew signing. The Cardinals now have Brissett, Minshew and Kedon Slovis on the roster, with general manager Monti Ossenfort declining to name a starter when pressed this week and suggesting the team would evaluate the room in August.
That answer was apparently not enough for Brissett, who responded by staying away from voluntary workouts. Rapoport added that the Cardinals appear willing to make some sort of adjustment to address the situation.
Sources: #AZCardinals QB Jacoby Brissett is not attending Phase 1 of the offseason program and is asking for an extension that pays him as the starter.
Brissett, set to make $9.06M in ‘26, has only $1.5M in guaranteed money and wants security. AZ appears willing to address it. pic.twitter.com/tl5HdMdvnO
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 17, 2026
What Brissett actually did last season
The case Brissett is making is not without merit. After taking over for Murray, he started 12 games, threw for 3,366 yards, 23 touchdown passes and eight interceptions while completing 64.9% of his attempts. His yards-per-attempt average of 7.1 ranked 24th in QBR among qualified passers, which placed him fifth-worst in that group. The team went 1-11 in his starts during a 3-14 season that ended with the firing of head coach Jonathan Gannon.
Those numbers do not suggest a quarterback in line for a major payday, but context matters. Brissett managed the offense more efficiently than Murray did during his limited stretch of availability, and he has now spent two full seasons as a primary starter, in Cleveland in 2022 and in Arizona in 2025, without ever being compensated accordingly. His last contract worth more than $8 million per year came when the Indianapolis Colts extended him back in 2019.
A draft pick could change everything
Complicating Brissett’s push for a new deal is the growing noise surrounding Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson and a possible Arizona connection. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah noted today that a Simpson-to-Arizona path feels inevitable, and reports earlier in the day indicated the Cardinals may be considering trading up from their No. 34 pick to re-enter the first round.
If Arizona drafts Simpson, the team’s need for both Brissett and Minshew as veteran mentors would remain, though paying Brissett a starter-level extension while simultaneously developing a first-round prospect creates its own set of tensions. The Giants kept both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston on the roster after selecting Jaxson Dart, so the two-mentor model has recent precedent. Whether Arizona is willing to commit resources to that approach while trying to build toward a future that may not include Brissett at all is the central question heading into what promises to be a pivotal draft weekend.
Ossenfort is entering his fourth year as general manager with a 15-36 record over his tenure. The Cardinals’ quarterback situation, unsettled as it has been, remains the defining variable in whether that record starts moving in a more favorable direction.