In early April, Arizona’s Trey McBride signed a four-year, $76 million contract that made him the first tight end in NFL history to sign a deal averaging $19 million a year. In late April, 49ers tight end George Kittle signed a contract that averaged $19.1 million a year — thanks to an inflated final year structured specifically to make Kittle’s annual average look better than McBride’s.
For his part, McBride is just happy to see tight ends getting paid, regardless of whether he or Kittle has the title of highest paid tight end in the NFL.
“I think it was great that I had the title at one point and that was obviously a huge milestone for me and everything just to be the highest paid at my position at the time, and I thought that was really cool,” McBride told ArizonaSports.com. “Obviously, George is much deserving of that and I’m very excited for him.”
McBride is hoping some tight end is making $20 million a year soon.
“I would love for someone to jump him and everyone just keep jumping each other and the tight ends make a ton of money,” McBride said. “So that’s what I’m pulling for but obviously very excited for George.”
Future tight ends who might break the $20 million a year mark include Sam LaPorta of the Lions, who will be eligible for his second contract in 2026, and Brock Bower of the Raiders, who will be eligible for his second contract in 2027.
In what may be the last year of his career, Calais Campbell has signed with the Cardinals, the team that drafted him in 2008. Campbell will turn 39 before the season starts and is the oldest defensive lineman in the NFL, and he recognizes that he was brought in to be a leader.
“I know when GMs and decision-makers [sign me], they’re looking for me to come into a building, I mean, they know that I come with a lot of leadership capabilities and prestige that a lot of the young guys respect, which is really cool,” Campbell said, via ESPN. “And, so, I don’t take that lightly. I mean, I take that with a lot of pride and I try to do best I can.”
Campbell, whose honors have included the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and the NFL Players Association’s Alan Page Award for community service, says that leadership comes naturally to him.
“I mean it’s kind of been who I am anyway,” Campbell said. “I don’t think I can go somewhere and not be that.”
Campbell acknowledged that at 39 he’ll need a few more plays off than he did in his prime, but he started 17 games for the Dolphins last year and thinks he can start every game for the Cardinals this year. And even when he’s not on the field, he’ll be contributing as a leader.
The Cardinals made a couple of changes on their defensive line on Tuesday.
They announced that they have released defensive lineman Ben Stille. They signed defensive lineman Patrick Jenkins to the 90-man roster in a corresponding move.
Stille had three tackles, a sack, and three passes defensed in three games for Arizona last season. He also had eight tackles and a sack in five games for the team in 2023. He appeared in three games for the Bucs between those stints and has also seen time with the Browns and Dolphins.
Jenkins went undrafted out of Tulane and tried out for the Saints at their rookie minicamp. He had 107 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, and 13 sacks while in college.
Thursday’s NFL transaction wire has delivered some news on a Cardinals defensive back.
Arizona has placed cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting on the reserve/non-football injury list, which means he’ll be sidelined for the 2025 season.
There has not been any reporting as of yet on Murphy-Bunting’s injury or how he suffered it.
Murphy-Bunting, 27, signed a three-year deal with the Cardinals last offseason. He started 15 games for the club in 2024, recording 52 total tackles with three interceptions and two forced fumbles.
While he missed a couple of midseason games, he started each of Arizona’s last eight games — albeit with reduced defensive snaps in the last two contests.
Murphy-Bunting was a Buccaneers second-round pick in 2019, winning Super Bowl LV with the club to cap the 2020 season. He spent the 2023 season with the Titans after completing his rookie contract with Tampa Bay.
Colts coach Shane Steichen and Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon parlayed the Eagles’ tush-push-fueled Super Bowl run into their current gigs. Their teams nevertheless voted in favor of banning the play.
Indianapolis and Arizona were among the 22 teams that voted to prohibit all pushing of the runner.
Steichen previously was Philly’s offensive coordinator, and Gannon was the defensive coordinator. Both left after the 2022 season.
In March, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni addressed (with a grin) the positions he expected Steichen, Gannon, and Saints coach Kellen Moore (the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in 2024) to take.
“Gannon, Steichen, and Moore better vote for it,” Sirianni said. “They are in the position right now because of that play. So all three, I better have those three votes right there and the Eagles’ vote. I at least know we have four.”
Moore and the Saints opposed the proposal.
Obviously, Steichen and Gannon didn’t have the final say regarding their teams’ positions. It’ll be for them to explain to Sirianni why they weren’t able to make a difference.
By next year, when the league potentially takes another run at killing the play, the Eagles may have placed one or two more coordinators in head-coaching jobs — if the Eagles fly again to a Super Bowl, and if offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio get opportunities.
