Wait, Is Cardinals QB Carson Beck Really Going to Start Week 1?

The 2026 NFL schedule was released last week, and the Arizona Cardinals are not favored in any of their 17 games. The Cardinals are also one of five teams that will not play a single primetime game, per the NFL.

In other words, the Cardinals are expected to lose a lot of games, which means they have nothing to lose in throwing a rookie quarterback out there and seeing what they have in him.

Arizona selected former Georgia and Miami quarterback Carson Beck in the third round (No. 65 overall) of the 2026 NFL Draft last month. Beck joined veteran quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew II in the Cardinals’ QB room.

Brissett, 33, started 12 games for the 3-14 Cardinals after it became evident Kyler Murray’s days in the desert were done last season. The assumption heading into the draft was that Brissett would return as the Cardinals’ quarterback for the 2026 season, with eyes in Arizona set on landing a true franchise quarterback of the future in the loaded 2027 NFL Draft.

Brissett isn’t cool with the status quo, as he’s holding out this offseason for a new contract.

According to Ian Rapoport, Brissett skipped the Cardinals’ first voluntary OTA practice on Monday. ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss relayed that first-year Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur told reporters that contract discussions with Brissett are the “same as where we were a few weeks ago.”

“Asked if he’s had contact with Brissett to work with him installing the playbook remotely, LaFleur said, ‘We’ve had contact. I’ll keep it at that,'” Weinfuss wrote. “LaFleur didn’t sound too worried about Brissett missing OTAs because he’s been around for a decade and has ‘done probably everything that we’ve ever done schematically. It’s just a little bit different verbiage.'”

There’s more than enough runway for Brissett and the Cardinals to find some middle ground that allows for Brissett to be the bridge quarterback as planned. But this does open the door for Beck to start Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Even if Brissett is under center for Week 1, there’s a good chance that the Cardinals turn to Beck once they’re out of contention, which should be pretty early in the season.

“The plan for the rookie Carson Beck, who Arizona drafted in the third round, is for him to sit and watch and learn, unless he outplays some of the quarterbacks during camp," Weinfuss said on ESPN on May 6. "And if that happened, there's a chance he could see the field earlier rather than later."

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 5:22 PM.