Every year, I promise myself that I won't overreact to anything that I see during the NFL preseason, and every year, I end up overreacting to almost everything I see. That being said, I don't think what I'm about to say is an overreaction: The Arizona Cardinals should give their starting quarterback job to Carson Beck for the 2026 season.
I thought this before Arizona's 33-30 loss to Carolina in the Hall of Fame Game, and after watching Beck's performance on Thursday night, I'm even more convinced that it should happen.
When you throw a rookie QB into an actual game for the first time, you never know what you're going to get. As Ryan Wilson noted on Thursday night, some rookies have performed well in their first preseason game (Dak Prescott finished 10 of 12 for 139 yards and two touchdowns in 2016), while other rookies have struggled (C.J. Stroud completed just 2 of 4 passes for 13 yards with an interception in his first preseason game).
What Beck did was prove that he can play at the NFL level. When you have a rookie QB, you want to make sure he can command the huddle, that he knows the playbook and that he can make good throws. Beck did all of that on Thursday in a performance that saw him complete 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown. He completed two passes of at least 35 yards, including the 49-yarder below to Jalen Brooks.
Carson Beck to Jalen Brooks. WOW.@ProFootballHOF Game on NBC Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/VjnMEP2mIQ
— NFL (@NFL) August 7, 2026
New Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur didn't seem too shocked by Beck's performance, because that's apparently how he's been playing during training camp.
"The same thing that I keep seeing at practice where he just gets in and out of the huddle, and he doesn't make it too big," LaFleur said, via ESPN. "[Beck] worried about one play at a time and executing that play and going through your progressions, not making stuff up. If it's not there, checking it down. If we're in a bad play, a bad call, don't make it worse. ... I just thought he was steady all day."
Why the Cardinals should now roll with Beck at starting QB
Right now, Jacoby Brissett seems to be the leader in the clubhouse for the starting QB job. LaFleur hasn't officially named a starting quarterback just yet, but Arizona did just revise Brissett's contract. The new deal will give the veteran QB a raise of about $10 million over his old contract: He'll now be making about $15.5 million in 2026 with a chance to earn up to $21 million. You don't hand out a raise like that unless you're thinking about making that guy your starter.
Brissett is a 33-year-old veteran and he might make sense as a bridge quarterback in another situation, but not here. Let's start with the fact that Beck already knows the playbook better than Brissett. Usually, this would be an advantage for the veteran QB on the team, but with a new head coach, both quarterbacks had to start from scratch this year and both guys are in the process of learning the new playbook. However, Brissett skipped OTAs due to a contract issue, so he actually fell behind. After signing his new deal on July 26, Brissett was asked if he was up to speed on the new offense and he gave an extremely honest answer.
"Oh, hell no," Brissett said, via ESPN. "I got a long way to go. I mean, I'm willing to put the work in. Obviously, after this night of sleep that I do get, I'll go back to three hours of sleep for work purposes now. But it's training camp. We're all learning. It's first time in this offense."
So Brissett has no advantage there. Beck, who was taken in the third round of the draft back in April, has shown that he can competently run the offense and that's what matters.
The bigger reason to start Beck is because the Cardinals need to know what they have in him RIGHT NOW. There's simply no upside to giving the starting QB job to Brissett.
Let's look at three hypothetical scenarios for how Arizona's season plays out with Brissett and why Beck would make more sense in each case.
1. The Cards play bad and earn the top pick in the 2027 draft. The Cardinals are in the toughest division in football, so there's a real chance that they end up with the worst record in the NFL. If that happens, they'll have the top pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, which is theoretically a good thing, because the draft is expected to be loaded with talented quarterbacks like Dante Moore and Arch Manning. However, if Brissett starts in 2026, then the Cards won't know what they have in Beck. They'd likely take a QB in the 2027 draft, which essentially means they'd be giving up on Beck without ever actually knowing what they have in him. WHY BECK: If Beck were to start in 2026 and lead the team to the No. 1 overall pick, the Cardinals would know that they gave him a shot and that he came up short, and that would put them in a spot where they'd feel comfortable taking a QB with the top pick.
2. The Cardinals win five to eight games with Brissett. This would arguably be the worst-case scenario for Arizona this year. Brissett is a veteran who might be able to lead you to a handful of wins, but that does nothing for you this year. In this situation, you likely don't get a high pick in the 2027 draft and you STILL don't know what you have with Beck. You wouldn't have the top pick in the draft, so grabbing one of the top 2027 quarterbacks wouldn't be an option and signing a QB in free agency wouldn't make much sense, because you would once again hinder Beck's potential growth. WHY BECK: If Beck were to start and lead the team to five to eight wins, the organization would likely feel optimistic about its future. With a young QB under center, the Cards could use the 2027 draft to build around Beck.
3. Brissett somehow leads the Cardinals to the playoffs. This is a long shot, but if it did happen, it would actually put the Cardinals in an awkward spot. Brissett's contract expires after the 2026 season and if he led them to the playoffs, they would probably be tempted to sign him to a new deal in 2027, which would keep Beck on the bench for another year. WHY BECK: If Beck were to lead the Cardinals to the playoffs, he would probably get his own holiday in the state of Arizona. The Cards would also confidently be able to say that they've found their franchise QB.
Brissett is a 33-year-old journeyman quarterback who has never finished a season with a winning record as a starter. He's gone just 2-15 as a starter over the past two seasons and that includes going 1-11 last year in Arizona. Despite those numbers, Brissett still had the audacity to skip OTAs in hopes of getting a bigger contract, and for some reason, the Cardinals caved, even though the answer (Beck) was right in front of them all along.
Carson Beck could be the QB of the future in Arizona and the Cardinals need to figure out if the future is now.
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