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Jacoby Brissett is not present at the start of the Cardinals' voluntary OTAs

The Arizona Cardinals have made it clear that they are in the process of beginning a rebuild this offseason, which could make the 2026 campaign a tough one for fans to watch. And yet, while the team struggled last year, it actually looked better once it turned to Jacoby Brissett as its starting quarterback instead of Kyler Murray.

With Murray getting released, that has cleared the way for Brissett to be the team’s starter this upcoming season. If that’s going to happen, though, Brissett has made it clear that he wants to be paid like a starting quarterback, rather than playing on the two-year, $12.5 million deal he signed last offseason. To this point, the Cardinals haven’t shown any interest in restructuring Brissett’s deal, leading to the veteran quarterback sending the team a strong message.

Jacoby Brissett Skips the Start of Cardinals’ Voluntary OTA Program

As noted above, Brissett was brought to Arizona last offseason to be Murray’s backup, but the former No. 1 overall pick ended up being able to start only five games before he suffered a season-ending foot injury. That thrust Brissett into action, and while he only won one of his 12 starts, he actually put together arguably the best individual season of his career.

Brissett’s final stats were actually rather impressive (315/485, 3,366 YDS, 23 TD, 8 INT), especially when considering how incompetent the Cardinals were for the majority of the year. With Murray no longer in the picture, Arizona opted to simply turn things over to Brissett for at least one more season before finding a true long-term option under center.

The problem is that, if Brissett is knowingly going to be the team’s full-time starter, he wants to earn more money, which is certainly a fair argument for him to make. Arizona hasn’t shown any real interest in increasing Brissett’s salary, though, so he opted to make a statement by skipping the start of the team’s voluntary OTAs this week.

“Arizona Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett is not present as his team begins its first practice of voluntary OTAs. The starting QB has been staying away as he seeks a raise for 2026,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported in a post on X.

Cardinals Need to Sort Out Jacoby Brissett’s Contract Situation

GettyArizona Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett

The Cardinals are in an odd spot with Brissett, because while the team wants to at least be somewhat competitive in 2026, it doesn’t need to win games next season. They could opt to pay Brissett, but if they don’t really care about the upcoming season, what’s stopping them from just releasing him and turning things over to their new backup quarterback, Gardner Minshew II?

Carson Beck and Kedon Slovis are also on the depth chart, but based on what he did last season, it’s clear that Brissett is the best option in this group. The front office needs to determine whether or not it is worth giving Brissett more money, or if it can live with Minshew’s unsteady play under center. There’s still time to come to a solution here, but Arizona would ideally get this squared away before training camp rolls around.