Jacoby Brissett 'Couldn't Care Less' About Cardinals Holdout Critics

GLENDALE — Jacoby Brissett wanted to have his cake and eat it, too.

Brissett landed a lucrative (and reworked) contract for the 2026 season that sees his guaranteed total rise to $15 million, far from the $1.5 million he initially entered the offseason with. After months of negotiations, Brissett emerges as a major winner.

He joked with reporters about having cake in the locker room to celebrate before revealing the reaction from his teammates meant more to him than the actual contract getting done.

Brissett's been at the end of plenty of online jokes since rumors first surfaced early in the offseason of his desire for a new deal. In spite of throwing for a career-best in categories such as yards/touchdowns, Brissett led the Cardinals to just one win in 12 outings in 2025.

That, combined with Arizona's 3-14 record, placed a unique set of circumstances around the holdout. On paper, you don't see that scenario play out very often — if at all.

After Brissett got his paper, he wasn't shy when asked about the people who were skeptical of his holdout.

"I couldn't care less. Deal got done."

Later at practice, Brissett took team snaps for the first time all training camp after being a bystander at offseason team activities and mandatory minicamp.

Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur confirmed to reporters that Brissett is in the plans to be the team's starter to begin the season, and will take over said duties as soon as Tuesday. Arizona has a scheduled off day on Monday.

"We want to still get him up to speed in terms of not just schematically — I'm really not even worried about that with him because of what I've always told you guys. He doesn't need to learn defense. Doesn't need to learn the speed of the game. Doesn't even really need to learn our players per se," LaFleur said this morning.

Brissett is still set to be a scheduled free agent after this season, though now all eyes are fixated on getting back on track with the Cardinals' offense.

Which first requires a good night's rest.

"I'm pretty sure I'll probably sleep more than three hours tonight, and we got an off day tomorrow, so I'll sleep in a little bit," Brissett told reporters after practice.

No matter how you slice the cake, Brissett's officially back in the saddle as Arizona's starting quarterback. Now, it's up to him to prove how sweet things can be.

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