Will Jacoby Brissett’s contract dispute lead to an open door for 2026 NFL Draft third round pick Carson Beck to steal the job?
Signed to a two-year, $12.5 million deal as a backup to Kyler Murray prior to the 2025 NFL season, Brissett’s value increased during the season when he started 12 games. With Murray moving on and the team falling short of selecting a franchise-caliber QB in the draft, Brissett is slotted as the starter for the 2026 NFL season, which prompts the veteran to want more money.
That’s if he will be the starter in Arizona.
Carson Beck has a real opportunity to challenge for QB1
What Brissett’s early absence opens the door for is Beck, who was at one time considered a first-round pick while at Alabama. Due to a down season in his final year with the Crimson Tide, Beck decided to forgo the 2025 NFL Draft and enter the transfer portal where he ended up with the Miami Hurricanes.
In showcasing his experience as a starter, Beck helped lead the Hurricanes to the national championship where he fell short to 2026 NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza and the Indiana Hoosiers. With new Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur implementing a new offense, Beck will have his chance to make this more of a QB competition than even LaFleur is ready to admit.
In fact, the Cardinals head coach says he is not worried about who will be QB1.
"Not really concerned about QB1 right now," LaFleur said after canceling the final practice of mandatory mincamp. "I'm concerned about these guys all reporting on July 22 (for training camp). (I'm) really more concerned about the next 40 days and what these guys are doing to continue. You can't take steps backwards. That's not the quarterback. That's all these guys. So literally, my only focus."
His remarks neither indicate an open competition for the starting quarterback position nor commit to Brissett as the definitive starter. Instead, they reflect a coaching approach that is willing to evaluate performance during training camp and select the quarterback, whether Brissett, Gardner Minshew or Beck, who proves the best fit for the offense at the beginning of the season.
As a rhythm passer with elite pre-snap recognition, Beck does have an opportunity due to Brissett’s holdout or hold in situation to show LaFleur the team’s best option may be going with the young quarterback rather than either veteran. With top pick Jeremiyah Love (who Beck has already established early chemistry with) in the backfield, a high-level pass catching tight end in Trey McBride, along with another former top-five pick in Marvin Harrison Jr, the young quarterback will have the playmakers around him to succeed. He will also have LaFleur and the veteran QBs to help him learn and develop.
Given Beck’s college experience as a starter and the high level in which he has played both during his time at Georgia and Miami, the Brissett situation could lead the Cardinals into uncovering their future with Beck at the helm. At the very least, it could and will force them to see what they have in the young rookie ahead of a 2027 NFL Draft primed to deliver franchise level talent at the position.
Either way, the storyline that is developing in Arizona is Beck may have a big say in which direction the organization goes at the QB position. It was clear when they moved on from Murray, but the next arm that leads them into the future may have already been drafted.
