Jacoby Brissett just got benched — but thanks to a bet he made on himself this summer, his $15.5 million salary is fully guaranteed even if he doesn’t play another snap this season. The Arizona Cardinals quarterback held out for about three months during training camp and offseason practices while negotiating a better deal, and it worked: the team restructured his contract, increasing his base salary from $4.88 million to $15.5 million, with incentives that could push the total value to $21 million.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Jacoby JaJuan Brissett |
| Born | December 11, 1992 |
| Team | Arizona Cardinals (NFL) |
| 2026 base salary | $15.5 million, fully guaranteed (up from $4.88 million) |
| Career earnings | $83.7 million (per Spotrac) |
The Holdout That Paid Off
Betting on yourself can take a different form in football. It can mean holding out during training camp and offseason practices while negotiating a better deal — exactly what Brissett did this year. He held out for about three months while looking to sign for more money with the Arizona Cardinals, and the gamble paid off when the team restructured his deal.
The timing could hardly have been better. Brissett’s restructured $15.5 million salary is fully guaranteed, which means he collects it in full even now that he has lost the starting job. As Celebrity Net Worth notes, this could very realistically be the last contract he signs as a starter — making the summer holdout one of the most consequential financial decisions of his career.
More Than $15.5 Million
In fact, Brissett will collect more than $15.5 million, because he has already hit some of his incentives. He earns $285,000 for each win (up to 10 wins) in which he plays at least 50% of the snaps. With three qualifying games this season, that adds $855,000 — putting him in line to make at least $16.35 million for the season.
The other incentives are now likely out of reach: $1.4 million for throwing for at least 3,500 yards, and $1.25 million for tossing at least 24 touchdowns. He is still far off from both of those numbers, currently sitting at 1,719 passing yards and 10 touchdowns — and he might not get another chance to add to them.
The Benching
The Cardinals benched Brissett in the team’s Week 8 game against the Dallas Cowboys late in the third quarter, with Arizona trailing 17-3 at the time. Backup Gardner Minshew II took over and led the Cardinals to a 33-30 come-from-behind win.
A day later, the Cardinals benched Brissett in favor of Minshew. The move ended Brissett’s run as the starter, at least for now, and left his remaining season incentives — the yardage and touchdown bonuses — almost certainly unclaimed.
A Journeyman’s Career
Brissett has started 72 games across 11 NFL seasons, including 14 last year. His career has taken him through stints with New England, Indianapolis, Miami, Cleveland and Washington before Arizona, building a reputation as a respected locker-room presence and a quarterback teams trust to step in when needed.
That journeyman path makes the summer holdout even more significant. Players in Brissett’s position — experienced, capable, but rarely the long-term franchise answer — seldom get the leverage to force a major restructure. Brissett created that leverage by withholding his services for three months, and the Cardinals blinked first.
Per Spotrac, Brissett has made $83.7 million over his career. That total is higher because of the smart decision he made this offseason — a decision that now looks even smarter with a benching that might otherwise have cost him millions.
When athletes bet on themselves, it can go either way. Some turn down a deal one year hoping for a bigger one the next, and it works out to millions extra. Others pass on a contract and wind up signing for less than half of what they turned down. Brissett’s version of the gamble — holding out for a restructured deal rather than gambling on free agency — has already paid off in full, guaranteed, regardless of what happens next.
Net worth and salary figures are estimates only, based on public sources.
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