Cardinals’ Gardner Minshew relishing another opportunity on his winding NFL journey

TEMPE — Arizona Cardinals quarterback Gardner Minshew II loves him some road trips.

Going from place to place, you never know what might pop up along the way. As he said Wednesday, each trip is memorable for its own reasons.

Hitting the open road has always been in Minshew’s blood. And in a way, it may have helped prepare him for the NFL.

If you haven’t noticed, Minshew’s got a road map of stops across his pro career — and that’s before mentioning his three college stints before transferring was cool. Since entering the league with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a sixth-round pick in 2019, Minshew has signed on with six different franchises, Arizona being the most.

Before getting to the desert, Minshew played for the Jaguars (23 games), Philadelphia Eagles (nine), Indianapolis Colts (17), Las Vegas Raiders (10) and Kansas City Chiefs (four). The experience is definitely there for the veteran signal. The starting opportunities, however, haven’t been so prevalent.

While Minshew found his way into the starting lineup because of injury and/or poor play more times than not, he’s only been a Week 1 starter twice in his seven seasons as a pro — Year 2 in Jacksonville and 2024 with Las Vegas.

Could Arizona be next?

In what felt like a backup addition this offseason — it was even reported as much — Minshew has become a legitimate option to start for the Cardinals in 2026.

With Jacoby Brissett remaining away from the team amid an ask for a raise that pays him as Arizona’s starter — the two sides are reportedly significantly apart — Minshew has gotten even more work in with Cardinals playmakers.

The early returns from Minshew running the show have been positive, with Paris Johnson Jr., Devin Duvernay, Hjalte Froholdt and Budda Baker among those raving about Minshew’s command of the offense, football IQ and of course, his vibes.

“Every time I see him, he reminds me of a California surfer, long hair, hang loose all the time. But he’s been great,” Baker said Wednesday. “He’s took command of the offense and they’re doing a great job. Glad to have him here.”

“He’s a leader. He’s everything I thought he would be,” Duvernay added while on with Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Thursday. “He’s been impressive with his ball knowledge.”

Minshew has quickly been welcomed with open arms as Arizona tried to navigate life without Kyler Murray for the first time since 2019.

But while there’s a growing feeling that Minshew is positioning himself as the starter — regardless of what happens with Brissett — the signal caller isn’t getting too far ahead of himself.

“At the end of the day, all you really have is the work that you put in,” Minshew said. “At some point, somebody’s going to be better than you and they’re going to play. At some point, you’ll be the best guy in the room and you’ll get a chance to play.

“All you really have is your opportunity to work and get better and enjoy it with the guys around you. It’s been a blast so far working with the staff, working with these guys on the team and I look forward to just continuing that.”

Minshew getting the starting nod is a very real possibility. The experience factor is there, same with the trust from first-year head coach Mike LaFleur.

But even if Minshew were to take the reins in Week 1, it’s only a matter of time before he hands them over to rookie Carson Beck.

Gardner Minshew looking to be that example in Cardinals QBs room

Seeing a young player come up the ranks is nothing new to Minshew. He saw that firsthand in Jacksonville with the Trevor Lawrence addition. After starting 20 games for the Jaguars in two seasons of work, Minshew was shipped out to Philadelphia for a 2022 sixth-round pick.

That’s life in the NFL, and while Minshew would love to be the guy in Arizona who is playing and winning at a high level, he also understands there’s more than just the Xs and Os that go into a franchise.

He may not be getting paid to be a mentor, and could very well be coaching up his replacement, but Minshew isn’t overlooking his potential impact on Beck and Kedon Slovis in Arizona’s quarterbacks room.

“I think the first thing is your responsibility to be a great example. To do things the right way, to come in unprepared, to lead your guys, lead your huddle,” Minshew said. “I think that as a young guy, that’s the best thing you can have is a good example to watch and see how it’s done.

“I’m trying to do that for them, answering any questions they have, trying to just give any tips or anything that I see with them. They’re great dudes, been learning and just trying to soak up anything they can.”

As Minshew said Wednesday, all it takes is an opportunity.

He got just that in 2019 when he spent four hours going over the Senior Bowl playbook with LaFleur. It ended up being a career-altering moment for the quarterback, who said their connection helped lead him to the position he’s in today.

Not only has Minshew not forgotten that, he seems set on paying it forward.

“At the time, I was just trying to be more prepared for that game and turns out that’s a lot of the reason that got me the opportunity here.”

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