{"id":216373,"date":"2025-02-12T16:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=216373"},"modified":"2025-02-12T16:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:56:10","slug":"the-arizona-cardinals-want-to-extend-trey-mcbride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/12\/the-arizona-cardinals-want-to-extend-trey-mcbride\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arizona Cardinals Want to Extend Trey McBride"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Cardinals are reportedly<\/a> interested in extending star tight end Trey McBride. McBride has emerged as one of the league\u2019s most promising young tight ends. He took a significant leap in production during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Locking him up with a long-term deal would solidify his role as a key weapon in the Cardinals’ offense.<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals Want to Extend Trey McBride<\/h2>\n

After being drafted in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft<\/a>, McBride initially played a complementary role behind veteran Zach Ertz. However, McBride took over as the Cardinals’ primary tight end going into his second year. In his breakout season, he showcased his ability as an elite pass catcher. Each season, McBride has greatly improved his production.<\/p>\n

Going into last year, McBride had already developed into one of quarterback<\/a> Kyler Murray\u2019s favorite targets. In 2023, McBride caught 81 passes for 825 yards<\/a> and 3 touchdowns, establishing himself as an integral part of the Cardinals offense. However, last season he leaped to stardom. McBride hauled in a whopping 111 receptions for 1,146 yards<\/a>, and 2 touchdowns. Coming off of these two seasons, Arizona sees this as the perfect time to lock up their star tight end.<\/p>\n

Extension Pros<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Cardinals are in the midst of a rebuild, but they have foundational pieces in place, including quarterback Kyler Murray. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.<\/a> is also a key part of the offense’s future. Extending McBride would ensure that the team has a high-quality tight end locked in as they continue developing their offense. Stability at the position would benefit both Murray and the overall passing attack.<\/p>\n

By negotiating an extension now, the Cardinals could lock McBride in before his price tag inflates even further. If he continues to develop into a top-five tight end, waiting too long could force Arizona to pay significantly more down the road.<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray<\/a> has thrived when given reliable receiving options. McBride’s ability to make contested catches and create separation in the middle of the field provides a safety valve for Murray, especially in pressure situations. Keeping McBride would help maintain chemistry in the offense as the team adds more playmakers and further develops its young talent.<\/p>\n

Extension Cons<\/h3>\n

While McBride is a valuable player, the Cardinals need to be mindful of their salary cap<\/a> situation. With upcoming decisions to be made on other key players and possible free agent signings, committing a significant portion of their cap to a tight end requires careful planning. There are many other parts to building a complete football team. It might be risky to commit a lot of money to a tight end.\u00a0 While McBride has shown great potential, the Cardinals must evaluate whether his production is sustainable over multiple seasons. If they commit to a long-term deal too soon and he regresses, it could limit their financial flexibility and contending window.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Extending Trey McBride would be a smart move for the Cardinals, solidifying a great young player. This would give Kyler Murray a dependable weapon for years to come. However, Arizona must strike the right balance between securing him at a fair price and ensuring they have financial flexibility for the future. If the team believes McBride is a long-term difference maker, getting a deal done sooner rather than later would be a wise investment.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Cardinals are reportedly interested in extending tight end Trey McBride. McBride is coming off of a great 2024 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5262,"featured_media":216444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,33],"tags":[7801,4674,9018],"class_list":["post-216373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-cardinals","tag-arizona-cardinals-news","tag-kyler-murray","tag-trey-mcbride"],"modified_by":"Will Koshover, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216373"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216445,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216373\/revisions\/216445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}