Cardinals sign their potential replacement for Kyler Murray

The Arizona Cardinals may be going with a one-year bridge option in the wake of Kyler Murray’s impending departure from the team.

Arizona has agreed to terms on a free agent deal with veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Monday. Minshew is getting a one-year, $8 million deal from the Cardinals, Schefter adds.

The seven-year NFL veteran Minshew, 29, spent last season backing up Patrick Mahomes on the Kansas City Chiefs. After Mahomes went down with a torn ACL in Week 15, Minshew briefly became the Chiefs’ starter but ended up suffering a season-ending leg injury of his own in Week 16.

As for the Cardinals, they recently informed the two-time Pro Bowler Murray that they intend to release him after seven seasons together. Now the only QBs left on the Cardinals depth chart are Jacoby Brissett and Kedon Slovis (though the team was recently linked to a different veteran signal-caller).

Brissett started 12 games for Arizona last season but went a horrid 1-11 over that span. Minshew, who has 47 career starts to his name, will be making far more than both Brissett ($5.4 million) and just about every other backup QB in the league next season. That may indicate that the Cardinals see Minshew as a potential starter in 2026.

Arizona does hold the No. 3 overall pick in next month’s draft as well as two other picks in the top 65. But if they want to use those picks on a different position of need instead, the former Pro Bowler Minshew will be around as a realistic (though fairly underwhelming) starting QB option for the Cardinals in Week 1.