{"id":760351,"date":"2026-02-18T13:22:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760351\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:22:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:22:30","slug":"cardinals-free-agency-tracker-quarterback-trey-lance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760351\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals Free Agency Tracker: Quarterback Trey Lance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Arizona Cardinals have three quarterbacks under contract: Kyler Murray (age 28), Jacoby Brissett (33), and Kedon Slovis (24).<\/p>\n

It is up in the air if the franchise will retain Murray, and word is, the new coaching regime wants to find a trade partner for Murray. Whether that comes to fruition will be known at some point. On March 16, Murray will be guaranteed his $19.5 million base salary for the 2027 season, whether he\u2019s on the team or not. So, the clock is ticking on that decision by the front office.<\/p>\n

That sum is over and above the $39.8 million Murray is owed for the upcoming 2026 season.<\/p>\n

RELATED: FREE AGENCY TRACKER RB BREECE HALL<\/a><\/p>\n

Most likely, Brissett will become the starter this year. Slovis went undrafted in 2024 and bounced around on various practice squads before being picked up by Arizona after the Houston Texans\u2019 final cutdown last year.<\/p>\n

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Denver Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Is Slovis the answer as the backup? Is the coaching staff ready to insert him into live games if Brissett were to become injured? If Murray is kept, then the backup is solved, no matter which seasoned veteran is playing.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s rookie quarterbacks are considered to be a weak class. It has been assumed that Arizona will select a young buck and then develop him. However, what if the Cardinals signed a younger quarterback in the free agency period instead? That would free up a valuable draft pick to select an athlete to fill another position of need.<\/p>\n

NFL draft: 2021 Round 1, pick #3 (49ers)<\/p>\n

Accolades: First Team All-Mountain Valley Conference (2019), MVC Offensive Player of the Year (2019), Jerry Rice Award winner (2019), Walter Payton Award winner (2019), NCAA Division 1 National Championship Game MVP (2020), Two-Time NCAA Division 1 National Champion (2018, 2019)<\/p>\n

NFL career: 16 games played, 6 starts (4 years), 108 completions, 200 attempts, 1,289 yards, 54.0% completion percentage, 56 first down conversions, 16 times sacked, 5 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 71.9 QB rating, 82 carries, 361 rushing yards<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

Lance is one of those players who killed it in college, and the end result was winning two championships and some incredible stats. He was then the third overall draft pick in the 2020 NFL draft. From there, he has struggled to find his place at the next level.<\/p>\n

If Murray is traded or released, the roster will need someone who can come in if something happens to Brissett (knock wood). Maybe that is Slovis, who is still a young man. Then again, perhaps the Cardinals need to bring in another young guy who has been in NFL games to take the torch.<\/p>\n

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Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Lance had almost 3,000 passing yards in college with 30 TDs against zero interceptions. He is also a good runner with 1,325 yards rushing and another 18 touchdowns. He is an excellent scrambler and will use his legs once flushed and on planned run plays.<\/p>\n

He has played for three NFL teams and is now a free agent. He is still a young man, so he has plenty of games ahead of him. The Chargers have tried to keep him and don\u2019t want to lose him. Is he a great quarterback? No. Is he a good quarterback? Depends on who you ask. Will he come cheap? Yes.<\/p>\n

Last year, in the finale against the Denver Broncos, the Chargers had nothing to play for and rested starting QB Justin Herbert, playing Lance instead. He went 20-44 for 136 yards, zero touchdowns, one pick, was sacked four times, and led all rushers with nine carries for 69 yards. The Broncos played all their starters to keep their #1 seed with a win.<\/p>\n

There is a long list of available QBs in this year\u2019s free agent market: Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Mitchell Trubisky, Daniel Jones, and Jimmy Garoppolo. Each of these will want a hefty contract and expect to start. And the Arizona front office just might be thinking in that direction. They may want to enter training camp with both Brissett and Murray in the QB room, with the idea that the best man will start and the loser will become the backup.<\/p>\n

Then again, they may get rid of Murray and be stuck with either Slovis or a new draft pick as their backup.<\/p>\n

Lance would provide a guy who has at least played some games and can be further developed, and is not 30+ or, in some cases, 40+. He is a good athlete with upside and is just 25 years old, which means he can evolve into LaFleur\u2019s offense for a good while.<\/p>\n

And besides, he would come with a manageable price tag. His base salary last year was $2.0 million. Lance could offer stability as a backup for the depth chart, where consistency matters and backup QBs with NFL game experience don\u2019t just become available often.<\/p>\n

Projection: Two-years, $4 million<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Arizona Cardinals have three quarterbacks under contract: Kyler Murray (age 28), Jacoby Brissett (33), and Kedon Slovis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,10166,2604,1327,7,6],"class_list":["post-760351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizona-cardinals-free-agency","tag-arizonacardinals","tag-cardinals","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116091852187146256","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}