4 Realistic Quarterback Options Cardinals Could Pursue

Rumors have been floating for weeks now that the Cardinals have heavy interest in former Tennessee Titan and Green Bay Packer quarterback Malik Willis.

Willis was drafted 86th overall by Tennessee in the 2022 NFL Draft. Entering the league as a backup to Ryan Tannehill, he got three games of starting experience his rookie season in relief of an injured starter. Those three starts were less than stellar, posting a 50% completion rate, no touchdowns, and a 42.8 quarterback rating.

The next season, Willis was beaten out of a starting role by the newly drafted Will Levis and after spending a year on the bench was traded to Green Bay in 2024.

In those two seasons, he has gotten three more games of starting experience in place of an injured Jordan Love and put up some good tape in those opportunities. He went 2-1 in his Green Bay starts and nearly 1,000 yards passing and 6 touchdowns in the 11 games he has made an appearance for the Packers.

The NFL world took notice this past season when Willis started against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17. The result of the game was a lopsided Ravens win, but Willis played admirably putting up 348 total yards of offense and three touchdowns. His performance earned him leaguewide plaudits regardless of the outcome of the game and likely earned him a great deal of money.

Widely considered the top free agent quarterback before the release of Kyler Murray, Willis is one of the only options for the Cardinals that might represent a future starter and not a bandaid.

Willis has a lot of connections to Arizona. General manager Monti Ossenfort was on the staff in Tennessee that drafted him, LaFleur is the brother of his most recent head coach in Green Bay, and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was on the same Packers staff and worked with him in 2025.

The main critique of this move would be the lack of true game experience and how smart it is for a struggling franchise to give a contract that reportedly could be in the range of $30 million a year to a player who has not consistently shown up on the field.

This would be a major investment in the potential of a young player, still just 26, who maybe needed a bit more time to develop in the league and is finally ready to be a franchise player. That is a big, big if.

2. Jimmy Garoppolo

Another quarterback that has been mentioned in connection with the Cardinals is a far stretch from Willis, 12-year vet Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garoppolo has been in the league since 2014 spending time with four different teams; the Patriots, 49ers, Raiders, and most recently the Rams.

Through the Rams he has a connection with new head coach Mike LaFleur but with 8 years of experience in the NFC West, Garoppolo is intimately familiar with Arizona. In fact, in his starts between San Francisco and Los Angeles he holds a 6-2 record against his potential new team.

Garoppolo started as Tom Brady's backup in New England but he has nearly three seasons of full-time starting experience with the 49ers including the 2019 season when his squad managed to win 13 games and advance all the way to Super Bowl LIV.

The majority of his career has been spent as a high-level backup so there is a solid question on whether or not he would represent any sort of upgrade over the player already in the building, Jacoby Brissett.

Possibly, his connection to LaFleur will be influential but Garoppolo would be nothing more than a bridge option for the Cardinals in 2026 and signal the drafting of either a developmental player in this year's draft or that the team plans to wait until 2027 to go get their guy.

3. Kirk Cousins

The quarterback with the most starting experience on this list is former Washington, Minnesota, and Atlanta signalcaller Kirk Cousins.

Fourteen years into his career, the 37 year old is long in tooth but despite never being one of the elite players at his position has put together strong performances including seven 4,000+ yard seasons and almost 300 career touchdowns.

The 4x Pro Bowler has led the league in completion percentage (2015) and was still slinging the ball at a high rate as recently as 2022 before an Achilles tear led to his eventual departure from the Vikings and an up and down couple of years in Atlanta.

There is no doubt that Cousins brings the most experience of any free agent quarterback the Cardinals could pursue this offseason and has the best history of high-level play. However, that history is just that, history and taking a chance on a player well past his prime still seems just another attempt to bridge the gap.

As a bridge, Cousins would bring valuable leadership and hopefully mentorship to a young quarterback if the Cardinals do decide to pursue a developmental player in this year's questionable class.

There are some reports, including by Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer that Cousins is looking for a committment from a team, understandably burned after being signed by Atlanta in free agency in 2024 only for Michael Penix Jr. to be drafted that same year as competition.

If that is the case, Cousins might not be interested in a mentor/bridge role in Arizona.

4. Tyson Bagent

The only player not a free agent on this list, current Chicago Bears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent has been linked by some in the national sports media to the Cardinals.

Bagent went undrafted out of Division II Shepherd University before signing with the Bears in 2023. He faced a tough road to making a final 53 man roster as a fourth-string QB that year competing against Justin Fields, Nathan Peterman, and P.J. Walker. By the end of training camp he was No. 3 and by Week 4 he was officially the backup quarterback.

He started in place of an injured Fields in Week 7 that year and became the first Bears backup quarterback to secure a victory in almost 20 years. He ended up starting 4 games in 2023 and emerged with a 2-2 record, an admirable performance from any backup.

Bagent's main problem is similar to Willis, lack of experience. He hasn't started an NFL game since 2023 but has hopefully been sitting and learning his craft.

He is still under contract with Chicago, however, so any move that Arizona might make for Bagent would require a trade. Surrendering precious draft capital for an unproven career backup quarterback is, to put it lightly, risky business.