Arizona Cardinals star Trey McBride broke the all-time single-season record for receptions by a tight end with 126 and was named the first-team All-Pro TE in 2025, signifying the top player at the position last year.
Despite the record and accolades, the humble McBride told the last week that he doesn't consider himself the best tight end in the game.
"No, I don't. These guys, Travis (Kelce), George (Kittle), Mark Andrews and all these other really good tight ends, they've been doing it for a long time," McBride said. "They've been doing it for six, seven, eight, nine years now or whatever it is, so their body of work is just tremendous. I think, you know, I just got to keep stacking, keep putting good years on tape and maybe in four or five years, yeah, but right now, I don't feel like I'm there."
That's a fair assessment from McBride. The players mentioned have years of stacking excellent seasons. So has he, even if it hasn't been as long.
In four seasons, McBride has generated 3,475 yards receiving, which is more than Kelce had in his first four years, more than Andrews, more than the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Gates, etc. The 3,475 yards sit fourth all-time in a TE's first four seasons, behind only Jimmy Graham (3,863), Mike Ditka (3,671) and Kittle (3,579).
The two-time Pro Bowler, like most at his position, had a rough first year, but since bursting on the scene in 2023, he has been an unstoppable force in Arizona. This year, he got the record and recognition he deserves as a top-tier pass-catching weapon.
"Yeah, it was really cool, you know, to break the all-time catches by a tight end," he told Tucker. "You think about how many great tight ends have playing in the league and to have the most catches out of any of them is pretty special. Yeah, to be the No. 1 fantasy tight end, to catch as many touchdowns as I did, to have as many yards. Yeah, it's special to be in the same conversation as some of these great tight ends, to me, it means the world to me."
Like many before him, however, McBride's accolades have come on a perennial loser. Since he was drafted in the second round in 2022, the Cardinals have won a grand total of 19 games in four years. Three times they've won four or fewer tilts. Their best record was 8-9 in 2024. In 2025, they won three.
"Yeah, it was hard," McBride said of losing. "Obviously, you try to play the game to win. You want to win every game, and it just wasn't there this year. We were struggling a little bit, but I was kind of focusing on what I can do. I just wanted to be the best player that I could be, do what I could do to help the team win, and it ended up being a pretty awesome individual year."
With Jonathan Gannon fired and ex-OC Drew Petzing heading to Detroit, plenty of questions await the Cardinals this offseason under new coach Mike LaFleur. However, given what we know about tight end usage by his former boss, Sean McVay, and his brother, Matt LaFleur, we expect McBride to remain a pervasive weapon in the passing attack.
