Arizona Cardinals Finalize 53-Man Roster for 2026 Season

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals have successfully trimmed their roster down to 53 players ahead of the 2026 season.

The league's 3:00 PM (AZ time) deadline has come and gone. While this by no means is Arizona's final roster for the regular season, this is their initial 53-man roster:

Arizona Cardinals Initial 53-Man Roster

QB (3): Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, Carson Beck
RB (3): Jeremiyah Love, Tyler Allgeier, Bam Knight,
WR (7): Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Kendrick Bourne, Devin Duvernay, Reggie Virgil, Simi Fehoko, Jalen Brooks
TE (3): Trey McBride, Elijah Higgins, Hunter Long
OL (9): Paris Johnson Jr., Isaac Seumalo, Hjalte Froholdt, Isaiah Adams, Elijah Wilkinson, Jon Gaines, Josh Fryar, Jayden Williams, Hayden Conner
DL (6): Walter Nolen III, Darius Robinson, Roy Lopez, Andrew Billings, L.J. Collier, Dante Stills
OLB (5): Josh Sweat, Baron Browning, Zaven Collins, Jordan Burch, Eku Leota
ILB (4): Mack Wilson Sr., Cody Simon, Jack Gibbens, Karson Sharar
CB (5): Garrett Williams, Will Johnson, Denzel Burke, Max Melton, Kei'Trel Clark
S (5): Budda Baker, Andrew Wingard, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, Kitan Crawford, Wydett Williams
Specialist (3): Chad Ryland, Blake Gillikin, Casey Kreiter

The Cardinals are placing James Conner on injured reserve with a designation to return, which will see him miss at least the first four games of 2026. Zach Carter also will be on injured reserve and also is designated for return.

Tip Reiman lands on the PUP list. He will miss the first four games of the season.

Long is the lone outside addition to this list after being traded from the Jacksonville Jaguars hours ago. You can catch more on that here.

Breaking Down Cardinals' Initial Roster

Truth be told, there wasn't a ton of wiggle room for surprises on the Cardinals' roster. Arizona didn't dress 40 players for their preseason finale in Green Bay this weekend, signaling that the majority of spots were either concrete or fairly solidified.

"Whoever's out there, you just want them to go out and execute and operate and do all the things that that we talk about," Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said after the team's loss to Green Bay to wrap up preseason action (h/t AZCardinals.com).

"That's from the first guy to the 90th guy, because that is the standard."

One of the biggest names to be cut earlier today was Sean Murphy-Bunting, who was by far the longest tenured corner in terms of NFL seasons with 2026 marking his seventh season. No other Cardinals cornerback had more than four.

Simi Fehoko making the roster in a crowded receivers room signaled the Cardinals do value special teams acumen from guys fighting to make it.

The Cardinals were always going to carry three quarterbacks on the active roster – at least for now. There's a possibility Gardner Minshew is traded near the trade deadline.

Owen Pappoe's release earlier today cleared the way for Karson Sharar to make the roster, ensuring every Cardinals rookie from the 2026 draft class landed on the active roster, save for injured reserve players in Chase Bisontis and Kaleb Proctor.

Outside of a few tweaks, this was mostly the roster everybody had expected and projected.

Add us as a preferred source on Google