Details Emerge On WR Michael Wilson’s Negotiations With Cardinals

Despite a June report noting that the parties were making progress in their negotiations, a report on Wednesday afternoon suggested an extension was unlikely and that Wilson was on track to hit free agency next March. Hours later, however, we heard talks had regained steam, and on Thursday, the deal was struck.

ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss reports that the Cardinals’ initial offer included an average annual value of $15MM, which shows how much of a gap the two sides had to bridge in these discussions. As of Wednesday morning, Weinfuss says player and team were still about $3MM-$4MM apart (presumably, he is referring to AAV as opposed to total value). 

He also believed negotiations would not go beyond the start of the season. That Week 1 deadline and the gulf that still existed between the Cardinals and Wilson’s camp may have formed the basis for the report that Wilson was likely going to play out the last year of his rookie contract, and Weinfuss himself believed as much as of the latter stages of training camp.

But as Weinfuss details, Arizona made small, incremental improvements to its offer each time Wilson’s team submitted a new proposal, and the Wednesday gap of $3MM-$4MM evaporated fairly quickly. It sounds as if a four-year agreement was on the table as well, but Wilson preferred the shorter term, as many players do.

With Jacoby Brissett under center for the majority of the 2025 season, Wilson experienced a massive third-year leap. The Stanford product comfortably set new career-highs in receptions (78), yards (1,006), and touchdowns (seven), and the Cardinals are clearly banking on his continued ascension. The Brissett-Wilson connection is set to continue for at least one more year, and Arizona will likely seek a more permanent QB solution in 2027.

This could prove to be a savvy transaction for Arizona. The ever-exploding WR market is now topped by Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s $42.15MM/year pact, and while Wilson was never a candidate to approach that figure, he also fell well shy of the crowded $30MM+/year plateau. His $25MM AAV ties him with DeVonta Smith for 21st at the position.