Trey McBride forced to hold back tears as he talks about becoming new $76 million man

Trey McBride has gotten emotional as he discusses his new Arizona Cardinals contract, which has made him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history – which guarantees him a whopping $43 million

Trey McBride struggled to hold back his emotions as he celebrated his $76 million contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals, which ties him to the franchise for four more years.

The 25-year-old first joined the Cardinals in 2022, as he was selected in the second round – and 55th overall – of the NFL Draft.

However, his professional career didn’t get off to the best of starts – racking up 29 catches for 265 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown across 16 games.

The tight end’s stats in Arizona improved drastically in the years to come, however. He now has 2,236 receiving yards overall across 49 games, with one rushing touchdown and six receiving touchdowns across three years – and a whopping 111 catches across 147 targets in the 2024 season.

McBride helped the Cardinals to an 8-9 record last year, and his performances have earned him the right to secure a contract extension – in particular, one that makes him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history so far.

The athlete’s new four-year extension is worth $76m, which means he will receive an average salary of $19m each year. This is $2m more than the previous highest-paid tight end, Travis Kelce, who makes $17.1m each year.

Trey McBride is now the highest-paid tight end in the entire NFL ( 
Image:
Bruce Yeung/Getty Images)
McBride spoke to reporters following his contract announcement, and looked visibly emotional as he spoke about his “journey” to this day.

He said: “I mean it’s been a journey, there’s no doubt about it. I come in, I’m the first tight end taken [in the Draft] and I hardly play my first year. I got 29 catches and it was just a rocky rookie year, I didn’t play as much as I wanted to but I really kept my head down and I kept grinding. I kept working hard and I knew my opportunity was going to come.”

McBride then struggled to hold back his tears as he added: “When it came, I knew I had to seize it. I feel that that is exactly what I did, and I just put the work in every day. I put the work in over time, and to finally reap the rewards is exciting.”

The 25-year-old struggled to hold back the tears while speaking to the media ( 
Image:
@FOX10Phoenix)
It seems like the rest of the Cardinals roster is happy with the announcement, as quarterback Kyler Murray sent his congratulations to McBride via social media.

Writing on X, the 27-year-old said: “Maaaaan! So happy for my dawg, worth every penny! More work to be done but a great day.” The tight end responded: “LFG! Going to be special.”

McBride’s head coach Jonathan Gannon is also excited about the contract extension, as he believes the tight end has a much higher ceiling to hit with the Cardinals. Speaking at the Scouting combine, Gannon said: “He had a really good year but he hasn’t hit his ceiling.

“He’s working on different parts of his game, but he needs to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s not a one-trick pony.