Why did the Cardinals end up paying Jacoby Brissett?

GLENDALE — The Arizona Cardinals could have gone about things differently when it came to veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

Instead of giving the signal caller a pay bump with a reworked contract, the Cardinals could have opted to stand pat and let him play out (or hold out) his previous deal.

They also could have just moved on from Brissett, with Gardner Minshew II and rookie Carson Beck as starting options.

The leverage didn’t appear to be on the quarterback’s side.

So why did the Cardinals end up getting a deal done?

“When we signed him, it was in a different role,” general manager Monti Ossenfort said Monday. “We signed Jacoby to be a backup quarterback and his role changed, his job changed and the expectations changed. That is what it came down to.”

There’s also no doubt the locker room played a role in Brissett and the Cardinals coming to an agreement.

Trey McBride, Paris Johnson Jr., Marvin Harrison Jr., Hjalte Froholdt and Michael Wilson, among others all gave their support for their quarterback. Same with defenders Mack Wilson Sr. and Zaven Collins.

Safety Budda Baker also took to social media to show his support of Brissett and how he deserved to be paid. We’ll call it a gentle nudge from the hard-hitting safety.

The flood of congratulations once the deal was official said a lot about the impact Brissett had on his teammates even if it was a losing season.

“I think with what Jacoby did last year, what he meant to the locker room, I think you guys saw just the reaction of his teammates and how excited they were,” Ossenfort said. “We were excited to get the deal done with him and move forward.”

Brissett now enters the regular season as the expected starter barring something unforeseen.

But how long does he hold onto that role?

Beck is picking up steam after a strong Hall of Fame Game showing and may find himself in the starting mix soon enough if things go south quickly in the win-loss column.

Arizona has a gaping hole at franchise quarterback, and getting a bigger sample size of Beck could help in deciding if he can be the fix or if it needs to dip into the first round of the NFL Draft or free agency.

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