The Cardinals Just Lost Their Best Lineman Again — and Sunday Is Aidan Hutchinson

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals lost their best offensive lineman again on Sunday. Left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., the sixth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, tore his left biceps late in the 36-24 loss to the New York Giants and will miss the rest of the season, head coach Mike LaFleur confirmed Monday — the third consecutive year Johnson's season has ended on injured reserve.

It happened on the final drive in New Jersey, Johnson grabbing at his left arm as the game slipped away. By Monday morning at the team's practice facility, LaFleur had the worst-case diagnosis. Johnson will be placed on injured reserve and needs surgery, which LaFleur said is coming soon.

"I don't know exactly when it's going to happen, but it's going to happen soon to get the process going. I know I was quick on that. I feel for him — just all these guys,"— Mike LaFleur, via ESPN, on Johnson's season-ending surgery

"It sucks for him, first and foremost. It sucks obviously for the Arizona Cardinals, our offense, this team. But it's NFL football — here we are in October and the show goes on."— Mike LaFleur, via AZCentral

The cruel part is the pattern. Johnson started all 17 games as a rookie in 2023, playing every snap at right tackle, according to Cards Wire — and he has not finished a season since. A knee injury landed him on injured reserve for the final three games of 2024. Another knee injury ended his 2025 season with five games left. Now the biceps tear wipes out the final 13 games of 2026. Across his four-year career he has 47 starts, but three straight seasons ending on the shelf. This year he had played all 277 offensive snaps through four games, and his 80.8 pass-blocking grade was the best among Arizona's starting linemen, according to Athlon.

The player was supposed to be the foundation. Arizona drafted Johnson sixth overall out of Ohio State, where he was an All-American after moving from right guard to left tackle, per PopCulture. The Cardinals picked up his fifth-year option in April, locking him in for just over $19 million in 2027, according to Cards Wire — but with injuries now deciding three straight offseasons, any extension talks next summer get a lot more complicated, as AZCentral noted.

Now the line gets the rookie treatment. Seventh-round pick Jayden Williams stepped in to finish Sunday's game at left tackle and is expected to start there moving forward, with Josh Fryar providing additional depth, according to AZCentral. LaFleur talked up the rookie on Monday:

"Really, really impressed with Jayden. I think I've said that in here if I haven't. But he's wise beyond his years. Obviously played big-time college football, so we got a lot of confidence in him,"— Mike LaFleur on Jayden Williams, via Sports Illustrated

The rest of the line is not healthy either: starting right guard Isaiah Adams suffered an ankle injury and is "most likely going to be out this week," LaFleur said, while safety Andrew Wingard avoided ligament damage in his knee but has no clear return timetable.

And the schedule shows no mercy. Arizona is 1-3 entering the weekend and hosts the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Oct. 11, at State Farm Stadium (1:25 p.m. Arizona time) — with Aidan Hutchinson, owner of 29 pressures this season per Athlon, lining up across from a seventh-round rookie making his first NFL start. The Cardinals could not have drawn a worse first assignment for Williams if they tried.

The division is not waiting for them either. The NFC West has been arguably football's best division this season, and the bettors have already made up their minds about Arizona's place in it: Polymarket gives the Cardinals just a 2% chance to win the division, trailing San Francisco, Seattle and the Rams by a mile, according to PopCulture. A 1-3 team down its best lineman, starting a rookie at left tackle, with its young receiver in trade rumors — that is not a 2% team because of bad luck. That is a 2% team because everyone can see what is happening.

The Johnson injury is not the only storm cloud over Glendale. On Sunday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter named Marvin Harrison Jr. as one of five players to watch ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline:

"The Cardinals are not all that enthralled with trading him, but other teams are doing their due diligence into Harrison. It would not be a surprise if he were traded by Nov. 10,"— Adam Schefter on Sunday NFL Countdown, via Arizona Sports

Harrison answered with an early touchdown against the Giants — a 12-yard score that put Arizona up 7-0, which Sports Illustrated called a beautiful reception — but through four games he has just five receptions for 85 yards and the one score. Schefter also named pass rusher Josh Sweat, who is reportedly seeking a new contract, as a name to monitor, according to Arizona Sports.

One strange footnote: Johnson's news landed one day after the Eagles lost Lane Johnson — no relation to Paris — to a surprise in-season retirement, as PopCulture noted. Different team, different Johnson, same brutal week for the tackle position.

For the Cardinals, the math is getting simple in the worst way: 1-3, down two starting linemen, a rookie left tackle against an elite edge rusher, and their highest-drafted receiver in years floating in trade rumors. Our NFL Thursday roundup has the rest of this week's injury and trade news from around the league.

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