The Cardinals have started extension talks with Michael Wilson, and the timing tells you plenty about where Arizona sees the receiver now.
Wilson arrived in 2023 as a third-round pick out of Stanford with a 4.58 40 and a 37.5 vertical, and for a while the conversation around the Arizona receiver room was supposed to revolve around Marvin Harrison, Jr. But Harrison’s season didn’t produce the kind of early résumé that comes with being the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
No Pro Bowls. No All-Pro honors.
Not even an NFL All-Rookie Team nod.
Then the quarterback situation changed, and Wilson’s role changed with it.
Kyler Murray opened the 2025 season as the starter, but after he injured his ankle in Week 5 against the winless Tennessee Titans, Jacoby Brissett took over the next game. That move flipped the passing game.
With Murray in the first five weeks, Wilson saw just 18 targets, caught eight passes for 51 yards, and scored once. Once Brissett stepped in, the offense came alive, and Wilson became part of the surge.
Brissett threw for 320 yards in his first start and later posted 452 yards in Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers. By the end of the season, he had topped 249 passing yards nine times, including four 300-yard games. Trey McBride remained his top target, but Wilson emerged as Brissett’s second-favorite option.
The result was the best season of Wilson’s career. He played in 17 games and started the final 13.
He finished with 126 targets, 1,006 receiving yards, a 12.9 yards-per-catch average and seven touchdowns. With Harrison dealing with an injury-plagued year, more of the passing game flowed to Wilson and Greg Dortch.
By season’s end, Arizona’s air attack was basically built around McBride’s 1,239 yards and Wilson’s production, and the Cardinals had their first pair of 1,000-yard receivers since 2015.
Now the front office is moving before the price climbs any higher.
Wilson signed a four-year deal in 2023 worth $5.34 million, and 2026 is the final year of that contract. He is set to make $3.92 million next season, which makes this the first year he can negotiate an extension. If Arizona believes it has a true WR1 in the building, waiting only raises the cost.
Monti Ossenfort has already begun the process, and Wilson has given the Cardinals no headaches along the way. He has been at every OTA and minicamp, taking on the new system and the new terminology without complaint. The coaching staff has asked plenty of him, and he has kept showing up.
Wilson’s own view of the situation has been simple. He said:
“I need to replicate that season and build upon that. Ultimately, that stuff is gonna take care of itself.
That whole situation isn’t gonna dictate my offseason. This is a state where I could see myself living for the rest of my life.”
That mindset fits the moment in Arizona, where Mike LaFleur is installing a new offense with new fundamentals, different blocking schemes, and more emphasis on the short passing game and a strong run game. Wilson said he appreciates how LaFleur uses motion and builds in enough structure for players to still lean on instinct.
He added:
“I like the motions that we utilize and how that affects the run and pass game. (LaFleur) gives us enough rules, but then allows natural ability, playmaking ability, and natural athleticism and football wherewithal to kind of take over. He understands football is controlled chaos and an uncontrolled environment.”
For now, the Cardinals are trying to make sure Wilson’s breakout doesn’t turn into a contract headache later.
In Other News...
Cardinals Fans Are Mourning A Heartbreaking Loss Tied To Larry Fitzgerald
The football world is mourning the death of Larry Fitzgerald Sr., the longtime Minnesota sports reporter whose name also carries weight in Arizona because of his famous son. Fitzgerald Sr. died June 1, leaving behind a career that stretched across generations of coverage and a family connection that made his passing resonate well beyond the Twin Cities.
The Cardinals joined the Vikings and other NFL organizations in paying tribute, a reminder of how deeply Larry Fitzgerald Jr.'s 17-year run in Arizona still ties the family to the franchise. Fitzgerald Sr. was respected for his work in Minnesota, but for Cardinals fans, the news lands as another painful chapter connected to one of the most beloved players in team history. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans Still Cannot Agree On The Kyler Murray Call
The Cardinals quarterback decision has lingered because Kyler Murray never really fit into a simple yes-or-no verdict in Arizona. His run with the team included a big early promise, an injury, and a coaching churn that kept changing the frame around him, which is part of why the front office kept weighing whether it made more sense to keep trying to build around him or move on and start fresh.
Mike LaFleurs arrival sharpened that debate, because the hire was seen as part of a broader reset and a signal that the team wanted a different direction at quarterback. Arizona could have explored more complicated ways to create a market for Murray, but the larger question was always whether the Cardinals were willing to keep carrying the contract and the uncertainty long enough to wait for the right return. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Once Came Shockingly Close To A Chicago Move They Couldn't Make
Long before the franchise settled into the desert, the Cardinals were already trying to solve a familiar problem: how to survive financially in a crowded football market. After Violet Bidwill remarried Walter Wolfner, who took over as managing director, the team explored a dramatic change in where it played home games, hoping a new setting could broaden its fan base and steady the business side of the operation.
The idea quickly ran into resistance from across town, and the fight escalated beyond a simple scheduling dispute. The Cardinals pushed the issue through the courts and asked for NFL intervention, but the challenge never got the traction they needed, and the move was eventually shelved. It was a reminder that even then, the franchises future could hinge on more than wins and losses. [Read more 🡒]