Josh WeinfussFeb 3, 2026, 10:00 PM
CloseJosh Weinfuss is a staff writer who covers the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL at ESPN. Josh has covered the Cardinals since 2012, joining ESPN in 2013. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and a graduate of Indiana University.
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TEMPE, Ariz. — Down the list of the players with the most receiving yards this season, past league-leader Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seahawks, past Rams receiver Puka Nacua, past Dallas’ George Pickens, Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown, is an unlikely name playing an unlikely position to be that high up on such a prestigious list.
Sitting sixth, with 1,239 receiving yards during the 2025 season, is Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride.
Yes, a tight end, among the biggest and best receivers in professional football. It’s not a typo. It’s just another chapter in a career season for McBride and one of the best seasons in NFL history for any tight end.
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“Yeah, it’s crazy,” McBride said.
“Honestly, it’s really cool to be up there with Ja’Marr Chase, all these guys that lead the league every year, all these stud receivers that do it. Just to be in the same conversation as those guys means a lot to me.”
The next-closest tight end? Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts, who had the 22nd-most receiving yards in the NFL this season, and he didn’t crack 1,000.
On Tuesday, McBride will play in his second straight Pro Bowl, just one of the accolades he recorded this season, but also a nod to his standing in the NFL — even if he doesn’t see himself in the same way as others do.
McBride turned in the best season of any tight end this year, one that culminated with his first All-Pro nod and included two NFL records, including the most consecutive games with five or more catches by a tight end.
And despite all the praise and accolades, McBride doesn’t think he’s the best tight end in the NFL.
“I think I’m a great tight end, I just don’t think I’m the best,” McBride told ESPN. “I feel like I’m considered one of the top tight ends, but I got to just keep proving myself each and every day, each and every week, every year. I’ve had a good couple years, but [49ers tight end George] Kittle, [Chiefs tight end Travis] Kelce, these guys have had eight, nine years of that.
Trey McBride set an NFL record for receptions by a tight end with 119 last season. Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire
“So, I got a lot to catch up on those guys. But, yeah, I had a great year. I’ve had a good couple years, but I just got to keep doing it for many more.”
What Kittle and Kelce have that McBride can’t, at the moment, is longevity.
Kelce was drafted in 2013 and Kittle in 2017. McBride entered the league in 2022. However, McBride understands what it’ll take for him to have sustained success, not just be a flash in the pan for a couple of years, and it starts with him staying healthy. McBride had the self-awareness this season to know he caught so many passes, in part, because Arizona trailed often in the second half of games throughout their 3-14 season, so they were forced to throw the ball.
It was also in part because he was a featured receiver in Arizona’s scheme.
“I get the ball a ton, but I feel like I can catch the ball and get open a lot and I feel good,” McBride said. “I feel young and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”
With Kelce now 36 years old and Kittle all of 32, they have fewer days left in the NFL ahead of them than behind him. McBride, who’s 26, is in the opposite position.
He’s ready to take the tight end mantle from them but only “when the time is right.” And he doesn’t think now is the time. McBride still wants to improve every year and feels like he needs to keep proving himself, regardless of what others think.
That’s why he took only a few days off after the season and then got right back into working out and training in between rounds of golf.
Getting to this moment — his second Pro Bowl, his first All Pro, his name etched in the annals of the NFL — has been a rollercoaster of a journey for McBride. Last season was his first as a full-time starter. And then 2025 happened.
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“If you would have told me my rookie year that I would be doing what I’m doing now, I don’t know if I’d believe you, but honestly just very happy with the situation I’m in,” McBride said. “I’m happy the way it all kind of unfolded and it’s really cool, it’s rewarding. But at the same time, I’ve put a lot of hard work in, and it’s no surprise that I’m having success.”
McBride was eating dinner with a couple of friends when his phone rang in late December. It was Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill. McBride wasn’t about to send that call to voicemail.
Bidwill was calling to inform McBride of his Pro Bowl selection. Then a couple weeks later, McBride was named an All Pro.
While McBride insisted he’s not the best tight end in the NFL — contrary to what his stats say — he’s heard all the praise heaped on him. And even if he says he doesn’t believe it, he’s humbly enjoying being called the top tight end in the NFL.
“It is cool,” he said. “No, it is cool. But at the same time, those other guys are really good, and it’s hard to say I’m the best. If you were to put other guys in my situation, they’d probably be doing the exact same thing. So I’m very fortunate in the system, the situation that I’m in, and I’m grateful to be here.”