The Arizona Cardinals and Jacoby Brissett have agreed to a restructured one-year contract worth $15.5 million in base salary, with incentives that could push the total to $21 million, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Ian Rapoport.
The deal, reached July 26, ends a contract dispute that simmered through the offseason. Brissett reported to training camp but sat out 11-on-11 team drills for the first two full days while awaiting a raise. He skipped voluntary workouts earlier in the spring, though he showed for mandatory minicamp.
He gets paid like a starter now because he is one.
Brissett signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal in 2025 to back up Kyler Murray. Then Murray went down with a season-ending foot injury in Week 5, and Brissett had to saddle up. He started the final 12 games, throwing for 3,366 yards, 23 touchdowns, and eight interceptions on a 64.9% completion rate. The record was 1-11. But the Cardinals’ front office saw enough to release Murray outright this offseason, swallowing $36.8 million in dead cap to clear the path.
Brissett’s career numbers — 101 games, a 20-45 record as a starter, 14,766 passing yards, 76 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions — won’t dazzle anyone. He’s been in the league since 2016, when New England took him in the third round. He’s passed through Indianapolis, Miami, Washington, Cleveland, and now the desert.
The Cardinals are betting $15.5 million that what Brissett showed in those 12 starts is closer to the real player than the 1-11 record suggests. The film doesn’t lie. Arizona will find out starting September whether that bet pays.
Sources: Jeremy Fowler and Ian Rapoport of ESPN.