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The top two quarterbacks on the Arizona Cardinals' roster are Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. Minshew took all the first-team snaps in the offseason program through OTAs while Brissett sat out in a contract dispute.
Brissett had a career year last season, passing for 3,366 yards and 23 touchdowns, starting the final 12 games of the season. However, he went 1-11 in those games.
Brissett is now 20-45 in his career as a starter and is 33 years old.
What is interesting is that Brissett and Minshew are almost the same quarterback. Minshew is simply younger.
Minshew has started 47 career games and is 17-30 in those games. If we take away the last three seasons for Brissett when he went 2-15 as a starter, he was 30 years old and 18-30 in his career as a starter. Minshew is 30 years old.
This will be fun.
Minshew enters Year 8 in the NFL. Brissett enters Year 11.
Let's look at where each of them were statistically at the same stage of their careers, entering Year 8.
Jacoby Brissett through 7 seasons
Garnder Minshew through 7 seasons
This is why it doesn't make sense for the Cardinals to take Brissett's contract dispute seriously. Yes, Brissett would be the lowest-paid starter in the league. However, the Cardinals could do with Minshew what they did with Brissett.
Minshew is an equally accomplished and more productive quarterback now than Brissett was three years ago. Three years ago, Brissett signed with Washington hoping to be the starter only to lose the job to Sam Howell.
If you think the Cardinals need Brissett to be competitive, remember that they were 1-11 when he started and 0-9 after he was given the starting job outright. They lost six times in the final nine by three or more scores. The offense averaged 18.7 points over their last nine games.
He had volume passing numbers and helped Trey McBride and Michael Wilson put up career numbers, but here's the thing. They could do excactly the same thing in 2026 with Minshew. They could lose by lots each game and Minshew could load up his pass catchers with volume numbers in garbage time. He has more passing yards and more touchdown passes in one fewer career start than Brissett had at that point in his career. Why do the Cardinals need to pay anyone anymore than what they are scheduled to do?
And here's the other thing: Minshew plays with flair and pizazz. Fanbases were captivated by his wild play early in his career. Brissett is the least interesting quarterback in the NFL. He is not a winner. He is not young. He isn't exciting to watch.
That is why Brissett's situation isn't all that problematic. He is 100% replaceable. Minshew is a younger, more exciting version of Brissett. Neither really gives you a good chance to win. Both can chuck the ball around and put up numbers.
That's about the best Cardinals fans can expect for 2026.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Jacoby Brissett or Gardner Minshew? It doesn't really matter for Cardinals
Continue reading...
Brissett had a career year last season, passing for 3,366 yards and 23 touchdowns, starting the final 12 games of the season. However, he went 1-11 in those games.
Brissett is now 20-45 in his career as a starter and is 33 years old.
What is interesting is that Brissett and Minshew are almost the same quarterback. Minshew is simply younger.
Minshew has started 47 career games and is 17-30 in those games. If we take away the last three seasons for Brissett when he went 2-15 as a starter, he was 30 years old and 18-30 in his career as a starter. Minshew is 30 years old.
Comparing Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew
This will be fun.
Minshew enters Year 8 in the NFL. Brissett enters Year 11.
Let's look at where each of them were statistically at the same stage of their careers, entering Year 8.
Jacoby Brissett through 7 seasons
- 76 career games, 48 career starts, 18-30 record
- 10,350 passing yards, 48 TD passes, 23 INTs
Garnder Minshew through 7 seasons
- 63 career games, 47 career starts, 17-30 record
- 11,987 passing yards, 68 TD passes, 35 INTs
This is why it doesn't make sense for the Cardinals to take Brissett's contract dispute seriously. Yes, Brissett would be the lowest-paid starter in the league. However, the Cardinals could do with Minshew what they did with Brissett.
Minshew is an equally accomplished and more productive quarterback now than Brissett was three years ago. Three years ago, Brissett signed with Washington hoping to be the starter only to lose the job to Sam Howell.
If you think the Cardinals need Brissett to be competitive, remember that they were 1-11 when he started and 0-9 after he was given the starting job outright. They lost six times in the final nine by three or more scores. The offense averaged 18.7 points over their last nine games.
He had volume passing numbers and helped Trey McBride and Michael Wilson put up career numbers, but here's the thing. They could do excactly the same thing in 2026 with Minshew. They could lose by lots each game and Minshew could load up his pass catchers with volume numbers in garbage time. He has more passing yards and more touchdown passes in one fewer career start than Brissett had at that point in his career. Why do the Cardinals need to pay anyone anymore than what they are scheduled to do?
And here's the other thing: Minshew plays with flair and pizazz. Fanbases were captivated by his wild play early in his career. Brissett is the least interesting quarterback in the NFL. He is not a winner. He is not young. He isn't exciting to watch.
That is why Brissett's situation isn't all that problematic. He is 100% replaceable. Minshew is a younger, more exciting version of Brissett. Neither really gives you a good chance to win. Both can chuck the ball around and put up numbers.
That's about the best Cardinals fans can expect for 2026.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Jacoby Brissett or Gardner Minshew? It doesn't really matter for Cardinals
Continue reading...
