Cardinals To Trade QB Gardner Minshew Before Deadline?

“Gone by the deadline,” an anonymous general manager told Jason La Canfora of casino.org.

The trade deadline falls on Nov. 10, giving the Cardinals a little over a month to find a taker for Minshew. Despite the presence of fellow veteran Jacoby Brissett, their starter, the Cardinals gave Minshew $5.14MM in guaranteed money on a one-year deal in free agency. That irked Brissett, who had less guaranteed money ($1.5MM) coming his way at the time despite outranking Minshew on the depth chart.

Brissett sought a raise and engaged in a months-long standoff with the Cardinals, who finally agreed to revise his contract when training camp got underway in late July. Now collecting a $15.5MM base salary (up from the previously set amount of $4.88MM), Brissett has taken every offensive snap for the 1-2 Cardinals. With a 70.1% completion rate, four touchdowns against one interception, a 91.5 rating and an 18th-place ranking out of 38 QBs in EPA/play, Brissett has done a decent job in the early going. He isn’t in any danger of losing his job to Minshew.

Now in his eighth year, Minshew has combined for 47 starts with the Jaguars, Eagles, Colts, Raiders and Chiefs. He had modest success as a rookie with the Jags in 2019 and as a Colt in 2023, but his teams have gone just 17-30 with him at the helm. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old could wind up somewhere else by next month if a team wants an experienced backup or suffers an injury to its starter and seeks a stopgap via trade. Tampa Bay will go at least three games without injured starter Baker Mayfield, though there is no word on whether the 0-3 team is interested in trading for Minshew or anyone else. The Buccaneers are turning to undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels for now.

By dealing Minshew, the Cardinals would free up second-string duties for third-round rookie Carson Beck. Head coach Mike LaFleur has had Minshew and Beck divide scout-team reps in practice this season (via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN). If Minshew eventually goes, Beck could take on more work behind the scenes and perhaps position himself to debut later in the year. The Brissett-led Cardinals are not expected to last long in the playoff hunt, which means LaFleur could plug in Beck toward the tail end of the season.