AZ Cardinals News and Recap

Coach Mike LaFleur said Thursday that Love (ankle) is “progressing,” Howard Balzer of Cards Wire reports.

It seems to be the only thing LaFleur is willing to say about his rookie running back’s recovery at this point, as the coach has made it his daily ritual to say Love is merely progressing while offering little else in the form of insight. Love has 10 days to try and get ready for Arizona’s Week 1 opener against the Chargers. He’s going to need to practice in some fashion next week to have a chance to play Sunday, Sept. 13, and even then Love is still likely to split carries with Tyler Allgeier versus Los Angeles.

The Cardinals signed Wilson to a three-year, $75 million contract extension Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

The sides squeezed this deal in before the start of the regular season, as Wilson had been set to enter the final year of his rookie deal. Selected in the third round of the 2023 Draft, Wilson had a true breakout season in 2025, as he operated as the Cardinals’ WR1 most weeks while Marvin Harrison battled injuries throughout the campaign. Wilson responded with three 100-yard receiving games over the final eight weeks of the season and finished the year with 78 catches for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns. Six of his seven scores came in the final five contests. Harrison is back healthy this season, but Wilson figures to remain a prominent piece of a passing offense that also includes All-Pro tight end Trey McBride.

Allgeier is poised to begin the regular season splitting carries with Jeremiyah Love (ankle), whom Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports is progressing well in his recovery and trending toward being available for Week 1.

Love is expected to eventually take on the lead role after being drafted third overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, but the rookie is likely to be eased in as he recovers from a preseason ankle injury, if he’s cleared at all to suit up against the Chargers in Week 1 on Sept. 13. Allgeier has rushed for at least 514 yards in each of his four regular seasons, the last three of which were spent backing up Bijan Robinson, so the former Falcons running back figures to maintain some level of involvement even once Love is fully up to speed. James Conner (foot) is on IR with a designation to return, so Bam Knight is currently the only healthy alternative to Allgeier on the roster.

McBride is listed as the Cardinals‘ No. 1 TE on the team’s unofficial depth chart.

McBride emerged as a target hog in 2024, racking up 147 in 16 regular-season games en route to 111 catches and 1,146 yards but just two touchdowns. The end-zone woes finally came to a close last season, though, as he finished with a monster 126-1,239-11 line on 169 targets in 17 regular-season contests. The catch count set an NFL record for most by a tight end in a campaign, surpassing Zach Ertz’s 116 from his 2018 season with the Eagles. McBride remains the top pass catcher for QB Jacoby Brissett and Arizona’s offense, but he does have competition for looks from WRs Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson.

Harrison is listed as a starter on the Cardinals‘ unofficial depth chart.

This comes as no surprise considering Harrison’s standing as the fourth overall pick in the 2024 Draft and his average of 6.5 targets per game through two seasons in the NFL. However, he has yet to take off, even with QB Jacoby Brissett under center for most of the 2025 campaign, as heel and foot injuries contained him to only three appearances in the final eight contests. Harrison has had a clean bill of health since late July, and with a full training camp working with Brissett and fellow WR Michael Wilson, the trio is set to hit the ground running Week 1 under new coach Mike LaFleur.