Cardinals Tried to Low-Ball Trey McBride During Contract Negotiations

The Arizona Cardinals tried to get Trey McBride for pennies on the dollar.

Dec 21, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) on the field during warm ups prior to a game against the Atlanta Falcons at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ARIZONA — Arizona Cardinals star tight end Trey McBride became the highest-paid at his position last offseason when he inked a four-year, $76 million deal.

That record only stood for a few moments before George Kittle slightly bumped McBride for the crown by $100,000 more per season.

Still, McBride's production and value to the Cardinals netted him a life-changing deal at $19 million annually per season.

And while it might not be a surprise, Arizona tried their best to undershoot that number.

McBride, appearing on the Bussin With The Boys podcast, detailed the process that eventually netted him his major deal.

"I remember going through the whole process of getting the new contract. I kind of knew I was gonna sign a big one, and I just remember I was at home, and my agent called me. I ended up signing for $76 million. At the time, it was like, hey, we got four [years] for $64 million which was $16 million a year, and I was like, f--- dude, $64 million, Oh my god," he said.

"... I'm like, dude, let's lock it in, $64 million. That's life changing. He's like, nah, bro, we're not f----- doing that, Like, what? You sure it's not gonna go anywhere? And it was just cool to finally end up signing that big deal, to be higher than Travis Kelce, George Kittle at the time, whoever was up there, it was pretty cool to sign that deal."

McBride was asked if Arizona's first offer was actually $16 million annually.

"The first offer, it was actually way lower, it was like $12 million. The Cardinals are a tough deal," he continued.

"I was like, 'yeah, it might not be the Cardinals, maybe I go somewhere else. Maybe I play my last year and kind of explore my options, and then they just they finally wanted to get it done. I knew I wanted to be the highest paid at the time, and Travis was at $17 million, and we got to $19 million. I really wanted $20 million. $20 million was the number I really wanted, but we couldn't get them up to it."

That's the life of negotiations, as team and player are typically far off on what they want before meeting somewhere in the middle. For what it's worth, $12 million annually would have placed McBride tied for tenth among tight ends entering this season.

In a league where the salary cap continually grows and players constantly are trying to one-up previous contracts, it's easy to see why McBride was shooting for the moon before eventually getting what's been a well-deserved contract extension.