Cardinals Extend TE Elijah Higgins

Arizona announced Friday that Elijah Higgins, a converted wide receiver, agreed to a three-year extension. The contract is worth up to $26.8MM, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. We will learn how much work “up to” is doing here, but this appears a nice payday for a player who initially found his way to the desert via waiver claim.

Previously a sixth-round Dolphins draftee in 2023, Higgins was a college wide receiver out of Stanford. Miami moved on before Mike McDaniel’s second season, but the team could not come especially close to passing him through to the practice squad. Five teams attempted to claim Higgins in August 2023; the Cardinals’ waiver priority won out, leading to a long-term partnership. The fourth-year pass catcher’s extension runs through the 2029 season.

In the seasons since that claim — one made in Monti Ossenfort’s first offseason as GM — Higgins has bulked up to 245 pounds and settled in as Arizona’s backup TE. The Dolphins had begun the player’s conversion, but the Cardinals ended up seeing the experiment through. Higgins has quietly made 23 career starts. Last season, he established a career high in yardage by racking up 301 yards on 30 receptions.

Transitioning to Mike LaFleur’s offense, Higgins has 18 grabs for 162 yards and one score this season. Pro Football Focus has been bullish on the Pac-12 product’s blocking in 2026, ranking him 12th at the position in run blocking and seventh in pass blocking. Higgins played 42% of the Cards’ offensive snaps last season and is at 41% thus far under a new coaching staff.

Higgins will probably be set for a bigger workload moving forward. The Cardinals are decimated at wide receiver, trading Marvin Harrison to the Texans and losing the recently extended Michael Wilson to a season-ending neck injury. First-round rookie Jeremiyah Love is also on IR, leaving Carson Beck with limited options beyond his tight ends as he ascends to the starting role.

The Cardinals traded Jacoby Brissett to the Ravens and soon lost Gardner Minshew to a UCL tear, opening the door for Tommy John surgery. Beck is now set to start, beginning a key audition for the franchise. Higgins, 26, will help foster the rookie QB’s development.