Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur speaks to the media at the 2026 NFL Combine.
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Mike LaFleur spoke about where former first-rounder Marvin Harrison Jr. will fit in his offense.
The Arizona Cardinals are making moves before the new league year to solidify their team.
This includes extensions, cuts, and restructures of contracts.
The Cardinals have re-signed their core special teamers from the past couple of seasons.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Cardinals re-signed kicker Chad Ryland to a one-year deal, with no financials reported thus far.
Minutes later, Garafolo reported the Cardinals also re-signed punter Blake Gillikin to a one-year deal worth up to $2.65 million.
Mike Garafolo
First the kicker, now the punter for the #AZCardinals: Blake Gillikin has agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $2.65M, his agents at @LIFTSPORTSMNGMT tell The Insiders. He missed 12 games with a back injury last season but is healthy now and Arizona moves to retain him ahead of
This means that the Cardinals will be running back their same special teams unit for the third year in a row.
What Will Ryland Bring to the Arizona Cardinals?
The New England Patriots drafted Ryland in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He did not live up to expectations with New England, hitting just 16 of 25 field goals, missing an extra point.
After the 2023 season, Ryland was released and quickly picked up by Arizona. After kicker Matt Prater’s injury early in 2024, the Cardinals elevated Ryland from the practice squad.
He quickly shone with Arizona. In 13 games, Ryland was 28 of 32 on field goals, including making all four attempts from beyond 50 yards.
However, he would struggle in 2025. Playing all 17 games, Ryland hit 25 of 33 attempts.
The Cardinals will hope for Ryland to regain his 2024 form. However, he has some competition. According to Cardinals beat reporter Darren Urban, Ryland will compete with Josh Karty in training camp for the kicking job.
Some competition may be good for Ryland, who hit just 13 of 20 field goals from 40+ yards in 2025.
Karty was a sixth-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2024 NFL Draft. With the Rams, he hit 29 of 34 field goals in 2024, but missed four extra points.
In 2025, Karty would struggle in eight games, hitting 10 of 15 field goals, missing three extra points. The Rams would end up replacing Karty with Harrison Mevis.
This competition will be interesting to watch as the offseason progresses.
What Will Gillikin Bring?
Given the contract he received, it is unlikely that Gillikin will be facing any competition with the Arizona Cardinals.
However, coming off an injury that limited him to just five games in 2025, it might be welcomed.
Gillikin has been one of the league’s most underrated punters. Although he hasn’t played all 17 games since 2022 with the New Orleans Saints, he has consistently averaged a high yards per punt.
In fact, he is tied with Las Vegas Raiders punter AJ Cole III with 48.5 yards per punt, the NFL record.
An undrafted free agent, Gillikin started with the Saints, playing 34 games and averaging 47 yards per punt.
With the Cardinals, he has struggled to stay healthy, playing just 31 games across three seasons. However, he has averaged an astounding 50.5 yards per punt during that period, including a 51.7 average in 2025, which would’ve been in the top 3 for a single season.
As one of the league’s best punters, the Cardinals re-signed Gillikin for what appears to be a bargain.
If he and Ryland can stay healthy, this special teams unit could be among the league’s best on what is otherwise expected to be a terrible team.