The Arizona Cardinals rewarded running back James Conner with a two-year contract extension this past weekend, but like the previous extensions for linebacker Zaven Collins and center Hjalte Froholdt, the deal is reasonable and includes no guaranteed money in 2026, which is Conner’s age-31 season.
The reports of the extension being worth $19 were accurate, but, of course, they did not reveal the guaranteed money and the all-important structure.
Conner’s contract for this year remained the same: $4.235 million base salary with $1.5 million guaranteed, a $1.5 million roster bonus that has been paid and $15,000 per-game roster bonuses for a max total of $255,000. Conner has already earned $180,000 of those bonuses.
The new money starts with a $6.75 million signing bonus that begins prorating this season. That adds $2.25 million to his prior salary-cap charge of $8.99 million to make it $11.24 million.
The new guaranteed money is $10.39 million (including the signing bonus) with $8.25 of that million fully guaranteed at signing.
Of his $3.64 million salary in 2025, $1.5 million is fully guaranteed. Another $2.14 million of that salary is guaranteed at signing for injury only, but will become fully guaranteed if he is on the roster on the fifth day of the 2025 league year (March 16).
In 2026, a $1 million roster bonus is due on the fifth day of the league year and his scheduled salary that year is $6.39 million. In both 2025 and 2026, there are $100,000 workout bonuses and $30,000 per-game roster bonuses worth a max total of $510,000.
The cap hits are $6.5 million in 2025 and $10.25 million in 2026.
Most important is that if the Cardinals would decide to move on from Conner prior to the end of the contract, there is only $4.5 million of dead money from his signing bonus that would have to be accounted for and that would only be if they shockingly part ways in 2025 without a major injury. If a departure occurred in 2026, there would only be $2.25 million of dead money if it happened before the fifth day of the league year.
Of course, it wouldn’t be surprising that should Conner continue playing at a high level through next season that another extension could occur.
Noticeably pleased, head coach Jonathan Gannon made sure to thank owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort for getting the deal done and added, “He’s a huge piece of who we are and obviously I wanted him to stick around here, so very happy about it.”
During his weekly appearance on ArizonaSports 98.7, Gannon also said, “I wish you could see the smile on my face over the phone. The leader that he is, the teammate that he is, the player that he is, the person that he is, really excited to have him in the fold here for the future.
“He’s everything we’re about. That’s one of the cooler parts of the job as a coach is to see guys get rewarded for who they are. I’m very appreciative of James and who he is and I’m glad he got rewarded.”
Quarterback Kyler Murray said on Wednesday, “It means a lot. More than myself, I love seeing my guys get rewarded for their hard work, dedication and perseverance. I can’t say enough about J.C. I told you that many times before. One of the best teammates I’ve ever played with, one of the best guys I’ve ever played with. For him to get rewarded was a beautiful thing.”
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