5 Biggest Things We Saw, Heard as Arizona Cardinals Begin OTA’s

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals have just finished their first set of voluntary offseason team activities, and there’s plenty to talk about.

We posted our sights and sounds video already (which you can check out here), though that didn’t quite cover everything we saw in Tempe.

Five biggest takeaways from being at the team’s facility for offseason team activities:

1. Notable Absences

All of Jacoby Brissett, Josh Sweat, Baron Browning, L.J. Collier, and Trey Benson were not present for the voluntary portion of offseason team activities.

Brissett continues to hope for a new contract while Sweat apparently is a healthy absence according to Arizona Sports. Collier had a personal day while Browning’s absence is unknown.

Starling Thomas and James Conner were spotted working off to the side while Tip Reiman (more on him later) and Walter Nolen III were also spotted on the sidelines. Garrett Williams posted on social media him getting recovery work in, too.

Benson suffered a season-ending injury last season, so he could be rehabbing elsewhere. Players who do not show in Tempe won’t be fined, though anybody who misses mandatory minicamp (June 8-10) will.

2. Jeremiyah Love Returning Kicks?

One of the biggest storylines was the emergence of No. 3 overall pick Jeremiyah Love returning some kicks during the open portion of practice this week. Max Melton was also an interesting name back there as well.

This caused a firestorm of overreactions on Love and the Cardinals’ potential usage of him. Many saw this as Love having to work his way through special teams while others think this will add more unnecessary hits if he is indeed on return duties.

“You’re experimenting with everyone in terms of a lot of different spots,” Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur told 98.7’s Burns and Gambo. “… Jeremiyah is a running back. We know that. But you never know.”

I wouldn’t read too much into this — at least right now. WR Devin Duvernay was signed this offseason as a primary return man.

3. Rookies Take (Expected) Back Seat

Neither Love or third-round rookie quarterback Carson Beck had dibs on the first taste of action with the starting unit while media were allowed to view practice.

That’s fine, and more importantly, very expected.

Even with Brissett out, it was the veteran Gardner Minshew repping with the first team offense. Tyler Allgeier was the main back for the Cardinals’ top offensive players.

Rookies, at this point in the offseason, are placed behind veterans purposefully. Even if this is the case in training camp, fans shouldn’t freak out if Allgeier is still over Love in the “pecking order” Arizona has.

This is simply the Cardinals working in their inexperienced players at a reasonable rate.

4. Sean Murphy-Bunting’s Position Change

Murphy-Bunting suffered a season-ending injury before even stepping into 2025 and was largely thought to be a cut candidate entering the offseason in a crowded cornerbacks room.

However, the Cardinals have apparently changed his position.

Murphy-Bunting, typically a boundary cornerback, was spotted working out with the safety group. Cornerback Will Johnson confirmed Murphy-Bunting was set to be a nickel corner, which serves Arizona as Williams is not expected to be ready for the start of the season due to injury.

When you’re trimming a roster down to 53, versatility matters.

5. Injury Updates

The Cardinals lost their top run-blocker in tight end Tip Reiman early last season with a right leg injury and is expected to be ready for training camp, according to LaFleur.

“Not going to dive too far into that, but [we] do expect him to be healthy, ready to roll when we get going in training camp. Another guy that I had a lot of respect for coming out of Illinois,” LaFleur told reporters.

“… Tip is all of the right stuff in terms of how he approaches it, and stuff like that. It’s unfortunate, obviously what happened a year ago, but [I believe he is a] big piece of where I think we can go.”

LaFleur was then asked about Benson, which drew a, “Kind of that same type of thing,” response from the Cardinals coach.

The Cardinals again will hit the practice field on May 21 where voluntary OTA’s continue.

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