Cardinals OL Paris Johnson Jr.’s next step as a leader ‘already happening’

When the Arizona Cardinals announced their 2025 captains last year, there was one notable name missing from the batch of seven players.

Although he was entering just his third NFL season, Paris Johnson Jr. seemed like a prime candidate to sport the “C” on his jersey given the leadership he was already displaying.

Entering 2026, he goes from dark-horse captain candidate to a shoo-in.

However, there’s much more to it for Johnson.

“I feel like me being able to take the next step has already been happening,” he told Arizona Sports’ Cardinals Corner. “I think the leadership starts off the field first. I think everyone talks about the leadership all on the field. I think in order to get that, that’s created by hanging out outside the building or even within the building during OTAs. You’re really getting to know guys. So that way when you’re on the field, I think that accountability that you hold each other to is at a higher level because now you’re able to talk to them, you’re able to keep it real. … It’s coming out of a place of love and not a place of a judgment.

“I think when you build that connection off the field, almost like a college locker room, like a high school experience, where you’re always around them. The kind of accountability in those locker rooms hit different when you get to talking to each other about the standard. Because guys are all truly on one team. It’s not like we’re just individual contractors.”

For Johnson, his next step into a bigger leadership role started soon after the season ended last year. There was no waiting around for the offensive lineman, who let his teammates know he would be around if they needed something.

It’s continued throughout the offseason, with last month’s NFL Draft being one of the latest examples of Johnson going that extra mile.

Just like he’s done with the first-rounders who have come after him — Marvin Harrison Jr. (2024), Darius Robinson (2024) and Walter Nolen III (2025) — Johnson was there to welcome 2026 first-rounder Jeremiyah Love to Arizona.

It’s an important tradition he picked up from mentor and former Cardinals OL D.J. Humphries, who was the first non-staff member to greet Johnson upon his arrival at the Tempe facility in 2023.

His and Harrison’s attendance wasn’t lost on Love, either.

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“They took the time out of their day to come and see me and that means a lot. That shows that there’s a brotherhood here at the Cardinals. I’m just happy being able to be a part of that. I plan to come in and build a great relationship with these guys,” Love said.

“I want to get to know them more as people off the field. That’s what I plan to do coming in. But it means the world to me to see these guys coming here and just showing their faces because they didn’t have to do that, but they did. That just shows me the great culture that’s here at the Cardinals. I plan to come in and make that culture better.”

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