The Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback room has been painted as a disaster, but the reality is a little less dramatic than the outside noise suggests.
Yes, the setup is messy. Arizona fired head coach Jonathan Gannon and moved on from former No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray.
Yes, the Cardinals sit in the league’s toughest division. And yes, the current group under center - Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck - doesn’t exactly scream stability.
Brissett and Minshew are on one-year deals, while Beck, a third-round pick, missed most of preseason with an injury and still has an uncertain role for the regular season.
That uncertainty is part of why The Athletic ranked Arizona’s quarterback situation third-worst in the NFL, behind only the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns.
"If you’re in a situation where you not only have Brissett holding out over a contract dispute but, as a team, you decide to give in to his demands, things are not going well. In fairness to Arizona, it didn’t appear the Cardinals had any intention of fielding high-level quarterback play this season," wrote Saad Yousuf.
Still, Brissett deserves a fairer look than he’s getting. He isn’t a quarterback who is going to carry a roster by force of will, and his ceiling has always been the issue. He doesn’t overwhelm defenses, and he’s not the kind of player who makes coordinators lose sleep.
But that may not matter as much in this offense.
LaFleur’s system has looked lively this offseason, and the early returns suggest it can work without a star-level passer. The unit appears built to function on rhythm, timing and sound decision-making, which plays to Brissett’s strengths far more than a high-wire, hero-ball approach would.
There’s also a reason his numbers last season need context. His career highs in passing yards and touchdowns came in a year when Arizona was routinely playing from behind and forced into a pass-heavy script. No team threw more passes than the Cardinals last season.
Even with that backdrop, Brissett helped fuel big years from Michael Wilson and Trey McBride, both of whom topped 1,000 receiving yards. His experience showed up in the quick processing and efficient reads, and his 1.6% interception percentage of throws was just outside the top ten among quarterbacks last season.
That doesn’t mean Brissett was being asked to do too much in a vacuum. He was originally brought in as Murray’s backup, which was reflected in the two-year contract he signed before 2025. If he ends up starting every game this season, it would be the first time since 2017 that he starts and finishes a season in that role.
That outcome is possible, but not because Brissett is being set up to fail by himself. The bigger issue was the lack of a run game and a defense that fell apart late last season, leaving Arizona in a hole no quarterback could reasonably climb out of.
There’s also the lingering noise from Murray’s injury situation, which fueled a lot of the criticism Brissett absorbed online after Murray was effectively "soft benched" by the Cardinals.
Arizona should be better equipped on offense this time around. The new play-caller and a revamped rushing attack ought to make the operation smoother. Even so, the Cardinals are still staring at the NFL’s toughest schedule, and the defense is largely bringing back the same group that created problems last year.
Then there’s Beck. With Arizona facing one of the biggest quarterback decisions in franchise history next offseason, it’s hard to imagine the team rushing into a major judgment based on just one preseason game of his play.
So the Cardinals’ quarterback situation is not ideal. Brissett isn’t good enough to erase the roster issues around him, and he’s not the savior type. But he’s also not the incapable placeholder some have made him out to be.
In Other News...
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Cardinals Face A Week 1 O-Line Question They Cant Ignore
The Cardinals have spent most of August trying to settle the details along their offensive line, and Isaiah Adams knee injury has now pushed one of the biggest questions right to the front. Adams, the projected starter at right guard, got hurt before a preseason game, leaving his status for Week 1 against the Chargers up in the air at a spot where continuity matters and the margin for error is thin.
Mike LaFleur said Adams is progressing and doing well, but next weeks practice work will be the real test of whether he is ready to go. In the meantime, Jon Gaines has stepped in at right guard, and Arizonas options beyond him are limited because of other injuries, which makes this one of those early-season situations the Cardinals cannot afford to let drift too long. [Read more 🡒]