The Arizona Cardinals are in the middle of offseason OTAs, and some players aren’t showing up. What that means is that other athletes are taking their place and getting the reps.
And the coaching staff, the majority of which are new to the desert, is simply working with who shows up.
RELATED: BRISSETT NAMED CARDINALS STARTING QB
One of these is QB Gardner Minshew. He is new not only to the franchise but also to the coaching staff in general. He was signed on a one-year deal with the idea that he would
back up Jacoby Brissett, who started 12 games last year.
Minshew is entering his eighth NFL season, so he isn’t a newbie. He has played in 63 NFL games, including 47 starts, so he has experience. He backed up Patrick Mahomes last year while with the Kansas City Chiefs and finished up the year when Mahomes became injured.
But Brissett is, well….holding out. There, we said it.
So, with Brissett a no-show, Minshew, along with backup Kedon Slovis and third-round draft pick Carson Beck, are taking every snap. Minshew is getting the lion’s share, which he should. He is the experienced one. He has guided a team as the starting QB when he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars and later the Indianapolis Colts.
For right now, Minshew is taking control of the Cardinals’ offense. Being at all of these functions is critical. The team has a new head coach, plus other new assistant coaches, including the OC, Nathanial Hackett.
Players and coaches need time to gel with each other.
Something else to consider is that the new head guy, Mike LaFleur, is putting in a new offense. Things are different with each system, and this one is nothing like the Cardinals have been running under Drew Petzing for the past few years. Watch tape of the Los Angeles Rams and/or the San Francisco 49ers, and it will become apparent what this new-look offense will eventually look like. Or the Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans, for that matter.
Did you get that? The “will eventually” part. It doesn’t happen overnight. There are timing issues. It’s like getting rid of your three-speed automatic sedan and now driving your dad’s old Chevy truck, which has a three-speed column shift – and you have no clue how to use a clutch or shift gears.
It’s different. The terminology is not the same language. Yes, Brissett can be sitting at home studying his playbook. But he can’t just show up one day and turn on the key and the vehicle bucks forward. Turn the key again, and it chokes out again. Nobody told him to press down the clutch all the way with one foot as he starts the engine, and press down the brake with the other so the truck doesn’t roll. Not to mention the arduous lesson of how to ease out the clutch while simultaneously pressing the gas pedal, all while using one hand to shift. Yes, it’s that complicated!
And it’s not like Minshew came from a similar offense and has just kinda slid into the starting role. It’s all mad science to him as well. But, he is getting his hands sweaty out there every time the Cardinals have had a date.
On May 9, John Gambadoro tweeted out that the Cardinals had named Brissett their starting QB going into Week 1 of the 2026 season.
And now, Brissett has figured out that the second year of his deal is chump change for a starting quarterback in the NFL. When he was the backup signalcaller, it was okay to stand along the sideline and bring home $6 mil for, what? Five months of work?
He wants more money, although he has one more year on his two-year contract that he signed before last year began. QB Kyler Murray was the undisputed starting quarterback, but was injured in Week 5, and then found his new home on IR. As Murray improved, the franchise made the decision not to activate him. In the offseason after LaFleur was hired, they released him, which eliminated the quarterback duel every Cardinals fan was expecting.
Minshew would love to be a starting quarterback again. He started 13 of 17 games with the Colts in the 2023 season and tossed 490 balls with 305 completions for 3,305 yards, 15 touchdowns against nine picks and a 62.2% completion ratio. Plus, he won seven games and participated in the Pro Bowl as an alternate.
Right now, there isn’t any timeline on Brissett coming in and suiting up. He is under contract for another year, and GM Monti Ossenfort, as well as LaFleur and Hackett, haven’t said where they are on either getting Brissett a new deal or expecting him to fulfill his contract.
Because currently, it’s simply a Mexican standoff.
After Wednesday’s OTA, Minshew told David Brandt of the Oskaloosa Herald:
“With every room you step in, you’ve got to go in and earn the respect of the guys. I think that’s been a fun challenge. It’s been awesome to be greeted here the way I have. It’s been awesome blending with this offense and team.”
Which is a good point, and wish we had thought of it. A new team with new guys in the locker room. Brissett knows the majority of the offensive roster, whereas everybody is a fresh face to Minshew.
But not everybody was here last season. There is expected to be at least three new offensive line starters in RT Elijah Wilkinson, RG Chase Bisontis, and LG Isaac Seumalo. The slot receiver should be another new guy: Kendrick Bourne. Will the key running backs become James Conner and Trey Benson from last season? Or rookie Jeremiyah Love and free agent signee Tyler Allgeier?
And the West Coast offense uses a lot of two and three-tight end sets. These are things a player gets familiar with on the practice field and not at home watching “Karamo.”
This is giving Minshew a head start on getting used to LaFleur’s offense.
The West Coast offense began in the 1980s with OC Bill Walsh of the Cincinnati Bengals. He had a starting quarterback who was accurate with a fast release, but did not have a strong arm.
After being passed over for the head coaching gig when Paul Brown finally stepped down, Walsh left and became the head coach at Stanford before landing with the 49ers. Here, he perfected the West Coast offense, which features more of a short passing game instead of the deep ball or the traditional grueling rushing attack.
This offense also will “flood” one side of the field with receivers, which at the time was never part of any offensive scheme.
Minshew needs this time to get acquainted with his new receiving corps and work on timing and tendencies. The only receivers Brissett hasn’t played with yet are draft pick, Reggie Virgil, and Bourne.
LaFleur is liking what he has seen from Minshew’s control of this new offense:
“What you see from him every single day is his love of the game, love for the locker room, love for football in general. Gardner is very confident and comfortable with who he is, just like a ton of our guys. That’s really all you want from people in that locker room or people in general.”
Minshew does have some semblance to this West Coast offense. He played his college ball at Washington State, which was coached by Mike Leach. This was a fast-paced passing attack commonly referred to as an “Air Raid” offense. The “spread” is another description that uses multiple receivers on the field at the same time, and with the Cardinals’ offense, that would include TE Trey McBride in these formations.
But still, the West Coast offense isn’t the Air Raid offense. It has to be learned and put into practice.
Minshew also mentioned:
“The reason this (offense) does so well is that it thrives off complementary looks and simplicity, with the illusion of complexity through motions and similar formations. We really don’t do a ton off each look, but just enough to put a seed of doubt. The idea is we’re going to get really good at what we do. It gives the players a ton of confidence when we say, ‘Hey, we’ve got these things, this is what we’re going to do, it’s your job to make it come to life.’ I think we’ve got the guys to do that.”
The reason Minshew believes that this Cardinals roster has the required manpower to pull off and develop this new offense is that he is on the field, going through the steps, calling the plays, and working with his blockers and pass catchers.
Is Brissett really doing himself a disservice by not showing up? Granted, everything has been labeled as “voluntary.” We get that.
However, the negative checklist is rather lengthy: New head coach, new system, new OC, new O-Line, new stud running back, new receivers, new multiple tight end groupings, and on and on and on…….
