Cardinals’ Trey McBride relishes status as NFL’s highest-paid tight end after long journey

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — It was just two years ago that Cardinals tight end Trey McBride had his first meeting with the team’s new coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.

The coach’s message to the second-year player was honest — we like you, but we’re not sure how big of a role you’ll have.

McBride didn’t take long to answer that question.

The 6-foot-4, 246-pounder’s quick rise into one of the NFL’s premier offensive players continued this week when the 25-year-old signed a $76 million, four-year deal that will keep him with the franchise through the 2029 season and makes him the league’s highest-paid tight end.

It’s all a little hard to fathom for a guy from Fort Morgan, Colorado, a small town about 80 miles northeast of Denver with a population of about 11,000. He played college ball in relative obscurity at Colorado State, and the Cardinals took some criticism from pundits who thought it was a reach to take McBride in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft.

These days, it’s looking more like a steal.

“It’s been a journey, there’s no doubt about it,” McBride said. “I’m the first tight end taken and I hardly play my first year, got 29 catches. It was just a rocky rookie year, didn’t play as much as I wanted to. But I kept my head down, kept grinding and working hard.

“I just put the work in every day, I put the work in over time and to finally reap the rewards is exciting.”

McBride choked up as he spoke those words, fighting back tears as he reflected on his unorthodox path to NFL stardom.

“It’s crazy and overwhelming,” McBride said. “A lot of hard work has gone into this. Just excited more than anything — happy tears for sure.”

McBride’s quiet rookie season in 2022 came during the final year of Kliff Kingsbury’s tenure. The tight end was inactive for the first game of his career and finished the season with just 29 catches for 265 yards. Kingsbury was fired after the Cardinals finished 4-13.

Given a fresh start with a new coaching staff, the tight end’s production exploded under coach Jonathan Gannon and Petzing. He was a first-time Pro Bowl selection in 2024 after catching 111 passes for 1,146 yards and two touchdowns. That followed his breakout 2023 season, when he had 81 catches for 825 yards and three touchdowns.

It’s no coincidence that McBride’s performance picked up steam following the return of quarterback Kyler Murray, who came back from an ACL injury midway through the 2023 season. The two have established a close bond over the past 1 1/2 seasons and quickly connected after McBride’s new contract was announced.

“Kyler was one of the first guys I talked to — he FaceTimed me — we were able to talk and just rejoice about how excited we are to play with each other a few more years,” McBride said. “To grow, to win and do all the things we want to do together.”

The Cardinals have missed the playoffs during McBride’s first three seasons, though they were in the postseason hunt last year before finishing 8-9. General manager Monti Ossenfort has been busy over the past few months, adding defensive standouts Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell.

The GM then turned his attention to locking up his franchise tight end.

“I didn’t really have a timeline, to be honest,” McBride said. “I was confident it was going to get done. I had no stress. I knew Monti wanted me here, I knew I wanted to be here and that was a great start.”

McBride was on the golf course with teammate Zaven Collins when he got the call about his new contract. It came in the midst of arguably the best round of his life, adding more fun to a great day.

“I had to take one hole off for the phone call — Zaven gave me a double bogey because I picked up — but other than that we had a heck of a time out there,” McBride said.

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