The Arizona Cardinals moved quickly on Tuesday to fortify their quarterback room, signing Joey Aguilar to the active roster from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler first reported the transaction, which arrives in the immediate aftermath of a potentially season-ending injury to Gardner Minshew.
Minshew suffered what sources fear is a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow during Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The injury occurred late in the first half on a hit from Dante Fowler Jr. as Minshew was throwing; he finished the game but is now seeking additional medical opinions and could require surgery that would keep him out for the remainder of the year.
With Minshew’s status in doubt and rookie Carson Beck in line to start against the Rams, Arizona added depth behind the Georgia product.
Aguilar, 25, brings a lengthy and unconventional résumé.
The Antioch, California, native began his college career at the junior-college level with City College of San Francisco and Diablo Valley before transferring to Appalachian State.
There he set school records with 3,757 passing yards and 33 touchdowns in 2023, earning Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year honors.
After another productive season with the Mountaineers, he landed at Tennessee for 2025 following a transfer saga that also involved Nico Iamaleava. In Knoxville he completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 3,565 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while adding 101 rushing yards and four scores.
Aguilar’s path to the professional ranks included a high-profile eligibility fight. He sued the NCAA seeking an extra year of eligibility on the grounds that his junior-college seasons should not count fully against his Division I limit.
A Tennessee judge denied the injunction in February, ending his college career. He went undrafted in April and signed with Jacksonville as a free agent.
After a solid preseason in which he completed 17 of 20 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown, he was waived and later re-signed to the Jaguars’ practice squad.
For the Cardinals, Aguilar represents an inexpensive, experienced arm who has already faced high-level competition.
At 6-foot-3 and 229 pounds, he has shown the arm strength and production to function in an up-tempo offense, though questions remain about his processing under pressure and turnover rate.
Arizona, already dealing with the loss of wide receiver Michael Wilson to a season-ending neck injury, now has another body in the quarterback room as it tries to navigate the second half of a challenging campaign.
The move underscores how quickly injury situations can reshape depth charts this time of year. Whether Aguilar simply provides insurance or eventually sees the field will depend on Beck’s development and Minshew’s recovery timeline, but the Cardinals have at least ensured they are not one more setback away from scrambling for a quarterback.
