Michael Wilson Admits He Wasn't Sure Cardinals Contract Would Get Done

The Arizona Cardinals and Michael Wilson hit a buzzer-beater today for their contract deadline — but it almost didn't happen.

Arizona Cardinals receiver Michael Wilson practices during training camp at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on July 26, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

ARIZONA — Even Michael Wilson was swept up in contract rumors before putting pen to paper.

24 hours ago, the Arizona Cardinals' receiver didn't know if an extension was going to be reached before the start of the regular season. With today being the final day of practice before the team parts for the weekend, there was an unofficial but hopeful deadline for Wilson and the Cardinals to strike a deal.

Wilson and Arizona indeed found a middle ground, reaching an agreement on a three-year, $75 million deal that can be worth up to $78 million — $47 million was guaranteed.

However, Wilson himself admitted to reporters he wasn't so sure something would get done.

"Talks have been going on since early offseason, and so I definitely wanted to get the deal done prior to Week 1, just for obvious reasons. And one, I wanted to know that I had security being in Arizona, but I think everyone saw the report yesterday," Wilson said near the beginning of his press conference.

The report came from ESPN's Dan Graziano, who suggested the Cardinals and Wilson were so far off that numerous sources told him Wilson was likely to hit free agency.

Yet the tide turned quickly to ensure Wilson wouldn't hit the open market next offseason.

"Things, conversations happened, tides turned, and the deal happened to get done. I couldn't even sleep last night, I was just so excited. I'm just so excited it got done."

Sep 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson (14) at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Wilson also said contract talks were long and the two sides sometimes went weeks without communication.

"They were long. I'm not going to say I was nervous about it not getting done, but there were times where both sides, we didn't speak for a couple weeks and kind of reevaluating things," Wilson added.

"But I try to stay out of it as much as possible and let my agent handle it because — I said this early in offseason — like I didn't want to let a contract dictate how I played, performed, and the way that I showed up for my coaches and teammates throughout the offseason.

"So I tried my best to stay out of it and not bring it onto the field, not bring it into the locker room, and let Monti [Ossenfort] and his team handle it, my team handle it."

The Cardinals and Wilson both ultimately emerge as winners — Arizona retains arguably their top receiver at the moment while Wilson gets an annual contract value of $25 million per season.

And sometimes, that winning shot comes at the buzzer.