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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett is not attending the team's offseason program as he looks for a new contract.

The Arizona Cardinals will be without veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett during Phase 1 of the team’s offseason program. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported the decision.

Brissett is asking the Cardinals for a contract extension. In particular, he’s looking for a deal that is going to offer him more security. As it stands now, Rapoport added, “AZ appears willing to address it.”

Going into 2026, Brissett is set to make $9.06 million, but only $1.5 million of that is guaranteed. This is also the final year of his contract.

Brissett has now been in the NFL since 2016 and has spent the majority of his career as a backup and spot starter for six different franchises. He landed with Arizona in 2025, initially backing up Kyler Murray, but Brissett would take over as the starter at Week 6. In 14 games and 12 starts, he completed 64.9% of his passes for 3,366 yards and 23 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. Notably, his career Interception percentage of 1.4% is an NFL career record.

The Cardinals also have Gardner Minshew on the roster. He has his own starting experience, but only played in four total games a season ago with the Kansas City Chiefs. Then, Kedon Slovis, who has two career passes, is also on the roster.

Analysts Had a Morbid View of the Arizona Cardinals QB Room

Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report recently took stock of the Arizona Cardinals’ QB room in the wake of moving on from Kyler Murray. He didn’t like what he saw, ranking them as the second-worst quarterback situation in the entire NFL.

“That success in a small sample for Brissett is dwarfed by his career 86.4 rating,” Gagnon wrote. “He is 33, while Minshew (who is on his sixth roster in seven years) will be 30 in May. They may swing at Simpson or one of those middle-round quarterback candidates, but this is realistically about 2027 at this point.”

As Rapoport noted, Brissett and Arizona will likely figure out this contract dispute. So, expect him back with the Cardinals at some point this offseason, which means the contract dispute won’t make that situation any worse.

For his own part, new Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur has indicated that he’s happy with the current quarterback situation. He recently said, “We like where we’re at right now.”

Despite that, Brissett and Minshew likely aren’t the long-term solutions at the quarterback position for Arizona. Instead, they may be turning their attention to the upcoming NFL Draft for that franchise quarterback. So, it will be interesting to see how the Cardinals structure a new contract with Brissett.

ESPN Analyst Predicts Excited for Ty Simpson to Potentially Land in Arizona

There have been numerous rumors surrounding the Arizona Cardinals and Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson. In particular, they could trade back into the late first round to select him.

That’s all just a bunch of rumors and predictions for the time being, but ESPN analyst Louis Riddick is excited by it. In particular, how Simpson would fare in the LaFleur offense.

“I know people say the Rams aren’t going to take a quarterback high in the draft,” Riddick said. “They’re all in on Matthew Stafford. But look, this is the first team in my mind that jumps right out in front when I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Who’s the perfect fit for him?’ When do you draft quarterbacks? You draft quarterbacks when you don’t need them.”

What Riddick likes in particular about Arizona is how Simpson would fit into LaFleur’s offense. That, of course, makes him interesting to the Rams as well.

“The Jets, the Rams, the Cardinals… with the Rams and the Cardinals being the two teams that have the kind of systems in terms of offensive philosophy that he is tailor-made for,” Riddick said. “Mark my words — if he goes to one of those two teams, if he’s coached in that system, Ty Simpson will be a decades-long starter in the NFL.”

The Cardinals may need to be aggressive to land Simpson. If they do manage to snag him, though, he could prove to be their quarterback for a very long time.