The Cardinals passed on making any waiver claims after roster cuts, and head coach Mike LaFleur made it clear that decision wasn’t about sitting still for the sake of it. It was about whether anyone on the wire truly represented a real upgrade.
“Well, I wouldn’t say (that, but) … yes we do like who we have, but you’re always trying to upgrade the roster,” LaFleur said, via CardsWire. “But you have to say, ‘Is this guy one do we think he is going to upgrade the roster?’
and two if it’s close; the time on task that you have with the guys currently in the building compared to a guy coming off the street that has to learn our building, have to learn the coach, have to learn the scheme, all those kind of things. So, there’s a lot that goes into it to decide if you’re going to swap someone out.”
In Los Angeles, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that Aaron Donald was lined up to earn $30 million in the final year of his Rams deal before retiring. Under a revised 2026 contract, Breer wrote that Donald would have a $10 million base salary, plus another $10 million in active-roster bonuses and a final $10 million tied to playing time and playoff incentives.
Breer also expects Donald to be on the field for 30-40 snaps per game. And while there has been discussion about the veteran waiting until October or November to return, Breer said Donald wants to “be a part of the journey in full.”
Out in Seattle, the Seahawks moved forward with signing CB Terrion Arnold even though he is facing eight felony charges tied to an alleged kidnapping and armed robbery case. GM John Schneider said the team was comfortable making the move because Arnold’s character didn’t line up with the allegations.
“There is a ton of different factors that went into it,” Schneider said, via PFT. “Obviously, the legal stuff has to take care of itself, and we totally respect that.
There are tons of different buckets to this situation. Just the advocates that we had, you know.
We traded for Leon Washington the first year that we were here, and he’s basically like his father. Leon [Washington] will always be a legend here, and he has a great relationship with the organization.
The character just didn’t really fit with the allegations and everybody we’ve talked to. But yes, there’s a long-term play.
This isn’t a, ‘Let’s see how quickly we can get this done.’ Let’s get him in the building and see how it goes.”
In Other News...
Cardinals Finally Have The Pieces To Prove 2025 Was The Fluke
The Cardinals are heading into the 2026 season with a very different conversation around them than they had a year ago. On The Athletic Football Show, the focus was on a roster that still has real skill-position talent and an offense built differently from the Rams', which gives Arizona a chance to lean into its own identity rather than chase a division rival's template. After a 2025 season defined by injuries and short-handed stretches, there is at least a sense that the pieces are finally in place for a cleaner evaluation of what this team can actually be.
The defense is where the optimism gets a little more guarded. The analysts were willing to point to the unit's upside if it can stay healthy, but they also flagged the same issue that has lingered around Arizona for a while now: consistency. Even with more talent on the roster, the concern is whether the Cardinals can turn that potential into something steady enough to matter over a full season, or whether they'll again spend too much time in the gray area between progress and a true breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Face One Huge Question In Their New Coachs First Season
Mike LaFleur arrives in Arizona with the kind of first-season pressure that comes with a fresh start, a new voice and a roster that still has to prove it can turn promise into something more stable. The Cardinals moved on from Jonathan Gannon and handed the job to LaFleur, joining a wave of coaching change around the league as teams head toward the 2026 season trying to reset their direction.
For Arizona, the biggest storyline is not just the new coach himself but how quickly he can settle the one question that tends to define these hires: whether the Cardinals can build a clear identity early enough to avoid another year of uncertainty. Other teams are dealing with their own unresolved situations, from Atlantas quarterback competition to Baltimores fresh start under Jesse Minter, but Arizonas attention is already fixed on how LaFleur handles his first season in charge. [Read more 🡒]
Michael Wilsons Cardinals Extension Isnt Quite What It First Seemed
Michael Wilsons new Cardinals extension gives the wideout the kind of long-term security that usually signals a club is all-in on a young target, and the headline number certainly looks the part. The deal is built to keep him in Arizona through the next several seasons, with a structure that mixes a signing bonus, base salaries, roster bonuses and salary escalators.
The finer print is where the picture gets more nuanced. The contract carries $47 million in total guarantees, but only $35 million is fully guaranteed at signing, and there is no fully guaranteed money in the final two years. That leaves the later cap hits to do some real work, which means the Cardinals have flexibility now even as they commit to Wilson as a key piece of their offense. [Read more 🡒]