Cardinals Reach Contract Extension With Key Offensive Starter

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals are set to keep Hjalte Froholdt around.

The Cardinals reportedly reached a two-year contract extension with their starting center worth $20 million, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.

Sources: The #AZCardinals and C Hjalte Froholdt have agreed to terms on a 2-year, $20M contract extension, keeping him in the fold through the 2028 season.

One of their most consistent performances and anchors of their O-lines gets rewarded. pic.twitter.com/k8u0jI7CJe
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 25, 2026

It's a well deserved deal for Froholdt, who has anchored the Cardinals' offensive line for multiple years now and has truly grown into a key part of Arizona's starting unit. He's started all 51 games played in the desert and has largely provided availability and high level of play.

"Personally you always got to get your own mindset ready for all the physical things going to happen. It's also a little bit of mental. There's all the stuff like okay, how am I doing? How's practice going? Am I the same as I am last year? What are we doing? Yada yada. But I think one thing I've just learned is just stick to the simple things," Froholdt said at the beginning of training camp.

"So I'm back. I'm playing the game that I love. I get to share cool experiences with a lot of a lot of pretty awesome people, and I get to play as a Cardinal. So I'm pretty stoked about that. So yeah,it feels really good."

Froholdt, who was initially set to be a free agent at the end of the season, now gets a well-deserved payraise and will provide continuity for a Cardinals line that also has Paris Johnson Jr. and Isaac Seumalo under contract through the 2027 season.

Froholdt, despite his high level of play, is barely recognized in a national spotlight. Perhaps that can change with more offensive success driven by first-year head coach Mike LaFleur, who has impressed Froholdt.

"I think it's fun having LaFleur out there. He's kind of like a crazy offensive coordinator mentality, like he goes in, stops everything, and just starts teaching. It's so fun to have that," Froholdt said.

"He's a head coach, but an offensive-minded head coach coming in and he loves these teaching moments. Yeah, we might get a break, or well, we're not going to get all the reps in, or whatever. But he's in it, because then everybody listens, and I think it's awesome to understand that.

"Like a receiver needs to understand why we're blocking certain ways. Not that I necessarily know routes, but I need to understand what type — like is it a deeper throw concept, or what's entailed in the protections? We're really all encompassing. So that's been really fun so far."

Froholdt's been one of few steady and consistent players in the Cardinals' lineup through the last few seasons. It's nice to see him rewarded.

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