Cardinals' LaFleur keeps cool as Jacoby Brissett and Josh Sweat absent from OTAs

Mike LaFleur is only a few months into his first head coaching job, and he's already dealing with two key absentees at the Arizona Cardinals OTAs.

Quarterback Jacoby Brissett, the man in line to lead the offense in the upcoming season, is sitting out voluntary workouts while he pushes for a new deal.

Edge rusher Josh Sweat, the team's sack leader last season, is also absent, with trade rumours gathering around him.

Christian Petersen / Staff

LaFleur isn't losing much sleep over either situation, at least on the surface.

"The few guys that weren't out there that you guys probably saw today, we very much knew that they weren't going to be here, and a lot of it was planned ahead," he told the media after Wednesday's session.

Brissett's absence: LaFleur not worried

Brissett has been absent throughout the voluntary portions of the offseason program.

His current contract, modest by quarterback standards, pays him a base salary of only $4.88 million in 2026, with only $1.5 million guaranteed.

After starting 12 games in 2025 and impressing with 3,366 passing yards and 23 touchdowns on a struggling team, he wants to be paid like a starter.

LaFleur knows the 33-year-old's experience will help him hit the ground running when he eventually returns.

"You'd be hard-pressed to see if Jacoby hasn't done most of what we are doing physically," he said. "It's word association from that point and cadences and all that kind of stuff.

"The hardest thing to teach a player is the speed of the game," he continued. "He's played a lot of ball, so he'll be just fine."

Josh Sweat trade rumours

Reports have emerged that the Cardinals are fielding trade calls for their top pass rusher.

The 29-year-old signed a four-year, $76.4 million deal last offseason, but with a cap number that rises north of $23 million in 2027, a case could be made that the Cardinals should take what they can, while they can.

Once again, LaFleur is unfazed by the development.

"I don't even read into the offers," he said. "I'm just excited about the fact that I don't have to game plan against this guy. I got to know him when I first got this job. He's a good dude.

"He goes about his process, and he's not the first guy to go about his process the way he is in terms of how he's training and all that."

Budda Baker: 'No love lost' for absentees

Safety Budda Baker, the Cardinals' eight-time Pro Bowl veteran, was equally laid back about the situation.

Reminding reporters that these sessions are voluntary, he insisted there's 'no love lost, love those guys."

Arizona has one more week of OTAs before mandatory minicamp begins on June 8. At that point, things become a little more interesting because fines come into play.