The Arizona Cardinals made it a priority to shore up the running back position as free agency began, making a handful of moves to really bolster the room.
Among the various transactions was the decision to restructure James Conner's deal, keeping the veteran running back around after he was widely considered to be a cut candidate entering the offseason.
The move was done over the weekend, though we finally got some answers as to what changed with his contract:
Details of James Conner's Restructure Revealed
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September 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) during the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
From [Spotrac](https://x.com/spotrac/status/2031694332277694611): "RB James Conner signed a 1 year, $3M restructured contract with the #Cardinals that includes $2.1M fully guaranteed, and $500,000 of per-game-active bonus. The move clears $5M of cap space for Arizona."
No years were added to his contract, so Conner is still set to hit free agency after the 2026 season.
Conner, a team captain, was widely believed to be a cut candidate this offseason thanks to his age (soon to be 31), injury history (season-ending foot injury in Week 3 last year) on top of the potential cap relief Arizona would have saved ($7.5 million).
The Cardinals also have added Tyler Allgeier and re-signed Bam Knight. Alongside Trey Benson, Arizona's running back room is now bulked and set for 2026.
Re-signing Conner is big for a Cardinals locker room undergoing change with new head coach Mike LaFleur leading the way. Arizona retains a prominent voice and saves some money in the immediate future, too.
Conner's early injury was an unfortunate domino that led to a wildly underacheiving 2025 season, where the Cardinals gained just one win after he left for the year in Week 3.
“It's tough, man. Honestly, to see a leader go down like that, everybody knows how hard he worked in the building early, always the last one to leave," fellow team captain Mack Wilson said of Conner's departure.
"A guy who I've been competing against throughout my career and fortunate enough to be a teammate with, I learned a lot from James. A great leader, great role model. Yeah, it's tough man. I feel like the guys were a little sensitive when he did go down because he's the heart and soul of our team."
Arizona hopes the veteran can have a bounce-back season in the desert in what very well could be his final year with the Cardinals. While there's now other capable bodies to handle some of the workload, there's no doubting Conner's presence is needed.