NFL 2023: Predicting the starting QB for all 32 teams pre-NFL Free Agency

Arizona Cardinals: Jacoby Brissett, Kyler Murray

Possible backup option: Gardner Minshew

The Arizona Cardinals will open the Jonathan Gannon era without their franchise quarterback, most likely. Unless Kyler Murray heals much faster than anticipated and comes back to the field earlier than he probably should, someone else will be starting the year off under center for this Arizona offense.

That someone could very well be Jacoby Brissett, who is a natural fit to follow new Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. Petzing was the quarterbacks coach for Kevin Stefanski and the Browns this past year before jumping on board Jonathan Gannon’s very young coaching staff. Having someone like Brissett hold down the fort for Kyler Murray could be an ideal situation.

But don’t be shocked if the Cardinals go out and get someone else that Gannon is familiar with in Gardner Minshew, who might be a closer one-for-one when you’re talking about building an offense for Kyler Murray, specifically.

But Petzing may be tasked with building a couple of offenses initially or at least asking someone like Brissett to simply operate the base of the offense at a high level and then designing different packages for Murray that get installed whenever he is healthy. Quite the undertaking for a young offensive coordinator, no doubt.

Brissett showed this past year with the Browns that he is a capable starter on a year-to-year basis. He might have plenty of suitors this offseason, too, with Josh McDaniels in the market for a QB as well as Frank Reich. He’s very strongly connected to those two guys so the Cardinals may need to go a cheaper route like Minshew if there’s a bidding war.