Gardner Minshew

Officially he’ll miss at least four weeks, but Adam Schefter reports he’s not expected to play again this season, which essentially confirms that he tore his UCL without actually confirming it. There’s no current timeline for his return.

If this proves to be the case, then Minshew played the entire second half with the injury, gutting things out for the Cardinals against a top-notch Seahawks defense. Minshew will undergo more tests to confirm the severity of his injury, but it now looks as if the Cardinals will be turning things over to rookie third-round pick Carson Beck, who threw for 188 yards and one touchdown in his lone preseason game. Beck could be in for a rough few weeks, and the Cardinals’ receiving corps looks suddenly depleted with Marvin Harrison Jr. now on the Texans and Michael Wilson (neck) and Kendrick Bourne (leg) both done for the season.

Minshew took a hard hit to his right elbow/arm in Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks and is now undergoing tests to determine the severity of his injury. He managed to play through the game, but if he is unable to go in Week 10 against the Rams, rookie Carson Beck would be in line to make his first career start. Minshew threw for 166 scoreless yards against a stout Seahawks defense, but led a comeback victory in just one half of play against the Cowboys the previous week. With recent reports of Michael Wilson (neck) being lost for the season, both Minshew and Beck would be best left on waivers this week.

To be fair, the matchup in Week 9 was far different than the one Minshew erupted in last week, with the Seattle defense placing the clamps on the Cardinals from the first kick, holding them to just 198 total yards of offense on the down night. The only points mustered came on the team’s first possession, with three of their five first half possessions resulting in three-and-outs. The Cardinals saw the football only thrice following the break, getting stopped after achieving first and goal from the four on their final possession of the game. It was an outing to forget for all parties. Minshew remains likely to be the starting quarterback, at least in the immediate future, but the looking presence of rookie Carson Beck could be accelerated if the former returns more games like this one. Up next for the Cardinals are the Rams in Week 10, where Minshew will be nothing more than a streamer in two-quarterback leagues.

After leading a second-half comeback against the Cowboys in which he threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-23 passing, the move to Minshew felt inevitable. Now, the eighth-year journeyman will have a chance to make his first start for the Cardinals in what’s sure to be a tough road matchup against the Seahawks. Minshew has long proved his value as a serviceable backup in the league and should provide enough to keep the fantasy stocks of Trey McBride and Michael Wilson up, but he could be in for a tough outing against a top-flight Seahawks defense. He shouldn’t be treated as anything more than a desperation streamer in 2QB/superflex leagues, while Wilson’s expectations should fall somewhere in the WR3 range.

Minshew appeared to get better blocking and be more accurate and on-time with his passes than Jacoby Brissett. He also got a few major long gains from Tyler Allgeier en route to rallying the Cardinals from a 17-3 deficit. Minshew should have had a walkoff 13-yard touchdown pass to Michael Wilson with six seconds left, but kicker Chad Ryland missed the extra point. In overtime, after an initial three-and-out, Minshew completed just one pass as Wilson and Allgeier ran the Cardinals into field-goal range for the win. Hard to see how the Cardinals would bench Minshew after how this looked, though he certainly shouldn’t be considered a firm rest-of-season starter just yet. Minshew Mania will likely figure into the QB2 superflex mix in Week 9.

Jaxson Dart will miss the rest of the regular season, though there’s hope he could return for a postseason run. Schefter noted that Minshew played under Giants OC Matt Nagy in Kansas City, giving him some familiarity with the team’s scheme. He also mentioned that it will not be cheap to pry Jones away from the 49ers. Jimmy Garoppolo is out there as well. He is a free agent and is reportedly still interested in playing, “in the right situation.” For now, the Giants are going to roll with Jameis Winston. Jake Haener will back him up. They will likely add someone as an extra backup option, but Winston is an interesting QB2 for fantasy purposes until they make a bigger addition.

Uncle Rico lands on his feet in Arizona with a chance to compete for the starting quarterback job with incumbent Jacoby Brissett during camp and preseason. The $8.25 million contract is far from “starter money,” but is still more than the average annual value of Brissett, making it likely the franchise is headed for a positional battle this offseason in the wake of Kyler Murray’s departure. At bare minimum, Minshew has proven to be a capable backup at the NFL level, having notched 47 starts across 63 appearances during his seven-year NFL career.

Minshew was initially believed to have suffered a torn ACL in Week 16. The issue would have sidelined him for much of 2026, if not the entire season. Per Schefter, it was just a bone bruise that did not require surgery. Minshew did not suffer any long-term damage from the injury. Minshew will head into free agency with a clean bill of health. At just 29 years old, Minshew should have no issues finding another backup gig in the spring.

Minshew received good news regarding his knee injury on Monday, but with just two weeks left in the regular season, it was apparent he would not be able to return in time to avoid the IR designation. The seventh-year signal-caller signed a one-year contract with the Chiefs this offseason but only appeared in two games. One of the better backups the league has to offer, Minshew should have no trouble finding a new home in 2026, given the current state of the quarterback landscape across the league.

Minshew is still dealing with a knee injury, but the veteran quarterback avoided the worst in Sunday’s loss. Minshew threw for just 15 yards on eight pass attempts against the Titans and will miss Sunday’s game against the Broncos. The Chiefs have already signed QB Shane Buechele off the Bills’ practice squad. He will presumably serve as the team’s QB2 behind Chris Oladokun on Thursday.

Minshew needs additional testing, but the injury indeed looked serious when the quarterback got rolled up on the final play of the Chiefs’ opening drive. The 29-year-old spent another quarter trying to play through it before finally admitting defeat. Minshew was wildly ineffective in doing so. We should have final word on his status by Monday afternoon. Chris Oladokun is the next man up for Thursday’s game against the Broncos.

Minshew is technically questionable, but he departed midway through the second quarter after getting rolled up on the opening series. He had been limping around ever since, and it seems like he can no longer give it a go. 2022 seventh-rounder Chris Oladokun is now in the game at quarterback. An already dismal Week 16 Chiefs outlook is now even more so. Minshew had generated just 15 yards on eight attempts before departing.

Andy Reid never confirmed as such at a presser today — the last three games of the Chiefs season are not exactly a pressing topic right now for some reason — but Minshew replaced Patrick Mahomes after Mahomes tore his ACL in Week 15. A date against the Titans is promising for some superflex QB2 consideration this week, but the Broncos over Christmas in Week 17 will likely be a game where the Chiefs just try to survive on offense.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes that Minshew “still has guaranteed money coming from” his contract with the Raiders, meaning he probably comes on an offset contract for Kansas City. This is a great spot for Minshew. The 28-year-old journeyman will get to learn from Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes before rolling the dice in free agency one year from now. We’re unsure if this is the end of teams talking themselves into Minshew as a bridge starter, but he should definitely upgrade the Chiefs’ Week 18 attack over what Carson Wentz offered this past season.

The move won’t be official until next week when free agency begins. It was a move widely expected after Minshew struggled mightily as the Vegas starter over nine games. He managed nine touchdowns to ten interceptions over those starts and eventually lost the starting gig to equally-unimpressive Aidan O’Connell. Minshew, 28, will certainly land on another roster this spring or summer and could end up starting games for another QB-desperate franchise. Only Will Levis had a lower drop back EPA than Minshew in 2024.

Reed speculates that the Raiders could cut Minshew and notes that they will free up $3 million in cap space by moving on. The Raiders could save $6 million if they used a post-June 1 designation on his release. Aidan O’Connell enters the offseason as the starter for the Raiders, but new management seems likely to add a veteran at the very least. They could do more than that by putting together a big contract for someone like Sam Darnold.

Minshew’s left shoulder was driven into the ground hard while being sacked in the Raiders’ Week 12 loss to the Broncos. Minshew finishes 2024 with 2,013 passing yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions and rushed 19 times for 58 yards. He is under contract through 2025. Minshew was replaced by backup Desmond Ridder but former starter Aidan O’Connell (right thumb) could reportedly be activated from injured reserve next week.

Minshew was sacked by a trio of Denver defenders late in the fourth quarter and appeared to be in significant pain. It appeared to be a left shoulder injury for Minshew, who was helped to the locker room. He had 230 yards, a touchdown, and an interceptions before exiting the game. Desmond Ridder replaced Minshew and immediately lost a fumble to the swarming Broncos defense. Ridder would represent a major downgrade for Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers if he’s forced to start in Week 13 against the Chiefs.