Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett Continues Holdout

He skipped Arizona’s first two weeks of OTAs hoping to spur some movement in negotiations, but the team has been unwilling to play ball thus far. Brissett is not at the Cardinals’ final week of OTAs, either, per ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss, with just one week to go until mandatory minicamp.

Brissett is set to earn just $4.88MM in base salary this season with an additional $510k in per-game roster bonuses. He can also earn $1MM for playing 50% of the Cardinal’s offensive snaps and another $1MM for hitting 65%. That is the lowest compensation of any starting quarterback not on a rookie contract. Geno Smith, Kyler Murray, and Tua Tagovailoa are earning less from their current teams, but they are also receiving significant sums from their former clubs.

The Cardinals may have misplayed their hand by making Brissett their presumed starter so early in the year. His grievance may be further compounded by the fact that Arizona signed Gardner Minshew to a $5.75MM deal this offseason to be his backup. The team drafted Carson Beck in the third round of April’s draft, giving them a third option, but new head coach Mike LaFleur prefers the incumbent. However, Brissett now clearly believes he has enough leverage to squeeze a raise out of general manager Monti Ossenfort.

Arizona has over $35MM in cap space, per OverTheCap, so they have the funds to bump Brissett’s pay. But agreeing on a dollar figure may be difficult. The 33-year-old does not profile as the Cardinals’ long-term signal-caller and seems closer to a stopgap option as the team figures out their future at the position – which could include Beck. Kirk Cousins and Justin Fields are on one-year placeholder deals worth roughly $11MM, which would seem like an appropriate raise for Brissett.

But the Cardinals could simply call his bluff and move forward with Minshew and Beck taking most of the practice reps – as they have been this spring – and competing for the starting job. Brissett could continue holding out into next week’s minicamp, which would result in just under $108k in fines if he misses all three days.

Given Arizona’s financial resources, it should be easy enough to come to a resolution. No other team is offering Brissett a starting job, either, and a decade into his career, he is unlikely to receive many similar chances in the future. Staying away from the team until training camp also runs the risk that Minshew or Beck can impress LaFleur enough to unseat Brissett, in which case he would certainly not get a raise.

It is worth noting that OTAs are purely voluntary, and a 10-year veteran like Brissett may prefer to manage his own offseason – though the ongoing installation of LaFleur’s new offense is a major reason to show up. He has never played in an offense orchestrated by a former Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay lieutenant, so there will still be plenty to learn in the new scheme.

In the past, showing up at mandatory minicamp after skipping OTAs has been seen as a good-faith gesture on the player’s part and a sign of progress in contract talks. Brissett’s presence next week will therefore be a key indicator of how things stand between him and the Cardinals.