The Cardinals’ quarterback room has been turned over fast enough to make your head spin.
Not long ago, Arizona was rolling through training camp with Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, third-round rookie Carson Beck and 2025 holdover Kedon Slovis. Now the group looks very different, with Beck still standing and the front office adding bodies around him in a hurry.
On Monday, Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort brought in 40-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. Then on Tuesday, Arizona claimed Joey Aguilar off the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad.
The timing matters because the Cardinals may be heading toward another change under center. Minshew is feared to have suffered a torn UCL in his throwing arm after getting hurt before halftime and playing through it. He is undergoing tests, so the situation is still being evaluated, but Beck appears to be the likely starter.
That would leave Arizona with a rookie at the top of the depth chart after a stretch that has already seen major movement at the position. Just last week, the Cardinals sent Brissett to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 seventh-round selection, while also giving up a 2027 fifth-round pick. Brissett had been benched because of poor play and an offense that had gone stale.
Minshew had given the Cardinals a spark before the injury. He led two late comebacks in the same game, a 33-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys, and then two days later Brissett was dealt. With the benefit of hindsight, the front office may have moved too soon.
Johnson gives Arizona a veteran presence. He entered the league in 2009 and is now on his 19th NFL team, with multiple stints for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals and Ravens.
His last contract was a one-year, $1.5 million deal with Cincinnati. He also spent time with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the second version of the UFL in 2012, was signed to the San Diego Fleet in 2019 before that league folded, and was with the Los Angeles Wildcats in 2020 before COVID wiped out the season.
Aguilar is the younger arm Ossenfort was looking for. He is 25, stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 229 pounds.
He went undrafted in April after playing at Tennessee, but his path to the NFL was a long one. After Freedom High School in Oakley, California, he spent two seasons at City College of San Francisco, then transferred to Diablo Valley for the 2021 and 2022 seasons before moving on to Appalachian State.
His first season at App State in 2023 was a breakout. He started all 14 games and completed 293 of 460 passes for 3,757 yards, a 63.7% completion rate, 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Those numbers set school single-season records for passing yards and total touchdowns. He was named the “Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year” and earned Second Team All-Sun Belt honors.
He followed that with another full season in 2024, again starting all 14 games. Aguilar threw for 3,003 yards on 218 completions in 390 attempts, with a 55.9% completion rate, 23 touchdowns and a conference-high 14 interceptions. After that year, he added more school passing records to his name.
Aguilar had one year of eligibility left and initially transferred to UCLA, but then changed course and enrolled at Tennessee to get a shot at SEC football. He won the starting job there and played in all 13 games, throwing for 3,565 yards on 272 completions in 404 attempts, with 24 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 67.3% completion rate.
He also brings some mobility. Across his App State and Tennessee career, Aguilar ran 211 times for 553 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 2.6 yards per carry.
After going undrafted, Aguilar signed with Jacksonville but was cut on the final day before landing on the practice squad. Now he’s headed to Arizona, where Ossenfort had other options available as well. The Minnesota Vikings were also actively looking for a quarterback as of Tuesday morning.
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