NFL Execs Don't Believe Cardinals Star Trey McBride is the Best Tight End

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals don't have much to boast about for the upcoming season.

That's life for a 2026 Cardinals team that wiped the slate clean at key positions such as head coach and quarterback after a three-win year last season. Expectations again are fairly low for Arizona, who rest at the basement of the NFC West with one of the NFL's toughest schedules.

When it comes to bright spots, none may shine quite like star tight end Trey McBride — who inked a massive contract extension last offseason (becoming the highest-paid TE ever) before 2025 saw him finish with one of the league's best seasons ever at tight end.

McBride easily garnered Pro Bowl and All-Pro awards, though entering 2026, NFL executives don't believe he's the best tight end in football.

Ahead of training camp, ESPN rolled out their annual list of positional rankings established by league execs, coaches and scouts.

Brock Bowers was voted the No. 1 tight end despite taking a massive step-down from his monster rookie season. McBride followed at No. 2 while George Kittle, Sam LaPorta and Tyler Warren finish the top five.

"McBride made a serious case for No. 1, earning more than 30% of the first-place votes. All but two of the votes were inside the top three for McBride, whose 126 catches in 2025 marked the most in a single season for a tight end in NFL history," wrote ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

"McBride's 72.9 receiving yards per game were nearly 16 more than any other tight end. His 566 yards after the catch were 90 more than any other player at his position. And his 11 receiving touchdowns tied for second leaguewide."

Considering McBride's massive season and Bowers' step back, it is a surprise McBride wasn't voted the No. 1 player at his best position. In fairness, stats don't tell the entire story, something McBride knows all too well after he caught just two touchdowns in 2024.

And, Bowers is legitimately so good it's conceivable he's still viewed as the top dog even after a down year.

"Ball skills, ball in hand, physical ability -- just an extremely impressive player across the board," one NFL coordinator told ESPN on McBride. "And not bad in the run game."

McBride very much is still finding small ways to tweak his game and make improvements within the margins, though it's tough to imagine what he has to do in order to get the top spot next summer.

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