Cardinals and Brissett agree to reworked contract worth up to $21M

The Arizona Cardinals and quarterback Jacoby Brissett reached agreement on a reworked contract guaranteeing him $15.5 million for the 2026 season with the potential to earn up to $21 million through incentives, according to ESPN reporting.

The deal represents a significant raise from Brissett's original two-year contract signed in 2025, which carried a $4.88 million base salary and only $1.5 million guaranteed. No additional years were added to the agreement, leaving Brissett scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, per ESPN.

Brissett's holdout lasted through the offseason. He did not attend Arizona's voluntary offseason activities or minicamp but held in during the mandatory minicamp in June before reporting to training camp Wednesday, according to ESPN. When he arrived at camp, the 33-year-old participated only in individual drills, not in 11-on-11 work. Negotiations between the two sides had stalled significantly through May and remained without progress as recently as the weeks before training camp began, according to sources told ESPN.

Coach Mike LaFleur confirmed the resolution. "It's good. Happy for him. Happy for our team. It was productive. For it to get done now, sooner than rather than later, it's good," LaFleur said, per ESPN. Beginning Tuesday, when the Cardinals return from a team day off, Brissett will take reps with the first-team offense.

LaFleur declined to commit to Brissett starting in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers, saying only that he would begin first-team work. With the raise, Brissett moves to the fourth-lowest-paid quarterback in the NFL by take-home salary, improving one spot from his initial contract figure, per ESPN. If Brissett does start Week 1, he would become the 12th quarterback in the Super Bowl era to open a season as the starter for four or more different franchises, according to ESPN Research.

Last season, Brissett appeared in 14 games with 12 starts, completing 3,366 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, per ESPN.

The Bottom Line: Brissett's deal resolves a standoff that kept him off the field through most of offseason work, positioning him as the likely Week 1 starter pending LaFleur's final decision. What to watch: whether any of the $21 million in incentives hinge on games started or performance metrics, and whether the door remains open for another quarterback to compete for the starting role.