Brissett Gets $15.5M Guaranteed from Cardinals
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- Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals reworked his contract to $15.5 million guaranteed this season, with the chance to earn up to $21 million through incentives, per a source told to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
- No additional years were added — Brissett remains scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and he had never sought to extend the two-year deal he originally signed in 2025.
- Before the reworking, Brissett was set to earn $4.88 million in base salary with only $1.5 million guaranteed; the raise moves him from the fifth-lowest to the fourth-lowest-paid quarterback in the NFL by take-home salary.
- Negotiations stretched months — sides were "significantly" far apart in May with little progress even in the weeks before camp — and Brissett skipped voluntary OTAs and held in during mandatory minicamp before reporting Wednesday.
- Brissett took 11-on-11 reps for the first time in camp on Sunday; coach Mike LaFleur said he'd take first-team reps Tuesday but stopped short of naming him the Week 1 starter against the Chargers.
- Brissett, who works without an agent but with a representation team, acknowledged the talks "got dark a couple times," saying he is "just glad it's over with and moving forward."
- If Brissett starts Week 1, he'll become the 12th quarterback in the Super Bowl era to start a season opener for four or more different franchises, per ESPN Research; he finished last season with 3,366 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 14 games (12 starts).
Why it matters: The reworked deal keeps Brissett among the NFL's cheapest quarterbacks — fourth-lowest by take-home pay — while Arizona preserves flexibility to let him walk after the season. Working without an agent, Brissett leveraged months of holdout tactics to multiply his guaranteed money roughly tenfold, from $1.5M to $15.5M.
