Arizona Cardinals training camp opens July 22, and this year’s version arrives with a little extra weight on it.
The Cardinals are getting an early start because they’ll play in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, August 6, in Canton, Ohio, with kickoff set for 8:00 p.m. (Eastern).
That game is one of the weekend’s big attractions, especially with former Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Because of that trip to Canton, both Arizona and the Carolina Panthers have to report ahead of the rest of the league.
That means the Cardinals are heading into camp with 90 players under contract and a lot of sorting to do before the Week 1 roster gets cut to 53. And there are a few spots that already look like they’ll be worth watching closely.
Quarterback is the obvious headline.
Last year, there wasn’t much drama there. Kyler Murray was healthy, he was the starter, and Jacoby Brissett was brought in as the backup.
The only real question was who would land the QB3 job. This summer is different.
Brissett was named the starter, but head coach Mike LaFleur seems to have walked that back a bit after Brissett missed all of the offseason OTAs and minicamps.
That matters, especially with a new offensive system being installed. Reps and teaching time are everything right now, and the quarterback who gets the most of both is going to have a real edge.
Gardner Minshew has taken advantage of the opening. He looked sharp during the offseason work and has been making it clear he wants the job.
Carson Beck is in the same conversation too. The rookie showed up for every practice session and meeting, stayed in the weight room, and told the media his goal is to start sooner rather than later.
If LaFleur really has opened the door to a competition, Beck has stepped right up to it.
The safety room is another spot with real questions.
Jalen Thompson is gone, and that leaves a hole Arizona has to fill. Budda Baker remains the centerpiece back there, but the Cardinals still need answers on who replaces Thompson and who handles the linebacker role in Nick Rallis’ 4-2-5 setup.
Arizona didn’t end up drafting a young safety, even though that seemed like the plan at one point. Instead, the team signed Wydett Williams, Jr. out of Ole Miss. The defensive back group is crowded overall, with 11 cornerbacks and seven safeties on the roster.
During free agency, the Cardinals also added Andrew Wingard, who came over from the Philadelphia Eagles. He was brought in to take Thompson’s place, but the unofficial depth chart currently has him behind Dadrion Taylor-Demerson. Wingard has seven years of experience, while Taylor-Demerson is entering his third season.
Wingard, listed at 6-foot-0 and 200 pounds, has played in 102 games with 44 starts. His career totals include 349 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 6 interceptions, 6 QB hits, 2 sacks, 22 batted passes, two fumble recoveries, 4 knockdowns, 9 hurries, 15 pressures, and 37 missed tackles. In coverage, he has defended 63 targets, allowed 33 completions, picked off 6 passes, and posted a 52.4% completion percentage.
Taylor-Demerson, Arizona’s fourth-round pick in 2024, has appeared in 29 games with six starts. He has 96 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 11 batted passes, and 7 missed tackles. In coverage, he has defended 27 targets, allowed 17 completions, grabbed 2 interceptions, and posted a 66.0% completion percentage.
Rallis’ 4-2-5 package often calls for a safety to step into a linebacker spot for better pass coverage, and that player has to be able to tackle. Wingard fits that description, which is why this battle should be one of the more interesting ones in camp.
Then there’s the pass rush, where Arizona still needs more help opposite Josh Sweat.
Last season, Sweat and Calais Campbell formed the Cardinals’ two-man pressure package. There’s been plenty of talk about Sweat’s future, but the team has already made it clear it intends to keep him.
Campbell, meanwhile, is now with the Baltimore Ravens and has said this will be his final season. He gave Arizona a strong interior presence and solid run defense, and he and Walter Nolen would have made a strong pairing.
To replace Campbell, Monti Ossenfort added Roy Lopez and Andrew Billings in free agency. Billings is on his fifth NFL team and has 6.5 sacks over eight seasons, with his best tackle total coming in 2022 when he finished with 39.
That points to a player who can clog things up, not one who’s going to create much pressure. Lopez is back in Arizona and brings better run-support production, but his sack total is also modest at 5.0.
Neither one is really a pass-rush answer.
Darius Robinson is still projected to work inside, but he hasn’t developed into the disruptive force Arizona drafted him to be. He has played in only 12 games over two seasons, with 53 tackles and 2 sacks. At this point, that’s not the kind of production the Cardinals were hoping for.
On the edge, Zaven Collins is listed as the starter opposite Sweat, with Baron Browning behind him. Collins is now in his fifth year after a standout college career. He had 100 tackles in his second season, but hasn’t approached that number since, with 57 being his high mark in 2024.
B.J. Ojulari and Jordan Burch are also in the mix, and one of those players needs to emerge. Arizona needs someone who can help collapse the pocket from the other side of Sweat.
So as camp opens, the Cardinals are staring at a handful of spots where the depth chart could still shift a lot. The quarterback job, the safety rotation, and the search for another pass-rush threat all look unsettled. And with the NFC West featuring some dangerous passers, the defense needs somebody to step forward fast.
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