NFL
Star TE Trey McBride: Cardinals Will Make the Playoffs Next Season

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride expects to be in the playoffs next season.
The 25-year-old tight end emerged as one of the best offensive weapons during the 2024 season, ranking fourth in the NFL with 111 receptions and 11th with 1,146 receiving yards. McBride’s breakthrough season resulted in a Pro Bowl berth, the first of his career.
However, the Cardinals came up short of a playoff berth at 8-9 after leading the NFC West with a 6-4 record at the end of November. McBride says that Arizona should have been in the playoffs this year.
”I felt like we should have been in the playoffs,” says McBride in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his partnership with Rockin’ Protein by Shamrock Farms. “It’s something that we didn’t quite get to where we wanted to be. But that’s something that we can grow and get better at next year. But for us I think we made a huge jump from last year to this year.”
The third-year tight end has never been in the playoffs during his young NFL career. However, the 2024 season represented the first time he’s been in the playoff chase, with Arizona previously finishing with a 4-13 record in each of his first two seasons in the league.
However, he has high hopes entering next season considering the Cardinals exceeded expectations with nearly a .500 record this season.
”I think from this year to next year, we’re going to make another big jump,” says McBride. “We’re going to be a playoff contender, a team that’s playing in the playoffs. A team that’s great. I’m excited to continue to build this culture, continue to build this team with (general manager) Monti Ossenfort, (head coach) Jonathan Gannon and Kyler (Murray) at the helm.”
McBride: Kyler Murray is ‘Phenomenal’ and a ‘Great Leader’
The continued chemistry and growth between McBride and Kyler Murray will be key if the Cardinals want to take that next step from being a fringe contender into an actual playoff team. Having Murray healthy for the entire season obviously helped after the 27-year-old was limited to just eight games during the 2024 season and 11 games during the 2023 campaign.
Murray appeared in all 17 games and a full season for the first time since the 2020 season. It’s no coincidence that Murray’s healthiest and most productive year since 2021 resulted in the Cardinals having their best year since that season. It also resulted in McBride posting career bests in receptions and receiving yards after producing 81 receptions for 825 receiving yards.
McBride points towards his rapport with Murray as a key reason for his breakthrough 2024 season.
“Kyler Murray’s phenomenal, man,” says McBride of his quarterback. “He’s one of those guys you never know what he’s going to do with the ball, and he’s such an elite athlete. He does everything the right way. You think he’s going to get tackled, next thing you know he spins out of it and he makes a miraculous throw for 50 yards. It’s just one of those things where you never know what he’s going to do, the play is never over.”
McBride says he and Murray have a good relationship off of the field, with both players big video game fanatics. However, he also mentions that Murray is a “competitor” and that he loves “competing” with his quarterback.
”That’s something I love with him,” says McBride. “If you get open, he’s going to make the throw. He’s going to do everything for you. You just got to go and run the route and get open for him. He’s phenomenal. He’s a great leader and someone I love playing with and I’m excited to build this connection and build this thing.”
McBride Models His Game After George Kittle
One of the tight ends that McBride models his game after is none other than fellow NFC West star George Kittle. McBride matches up against Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers twice a year. He says any time he matches up against Kittle, he wants to “one up him.”
”We play twice a year and I’m always trying to one-up him,” says McBride of Kittle. “He has 20 yards, I want 21 yards. He has three catches, I want four catches. It’s one of those things where it’s a great, competitive rivalry that we have and he’s also a great person, great friend of mine and I love playing against him every year.”
Kittle is the definition of an all-around tight end. While he’s best known for his receiving prowess — he has four 1,000-yard seasons under his belt — he’s also one of the best blocking tight ends in the league. The 31-year-old is one of the accomplished tight ends in the league with six Pro Bowl berths and five All-Pro selections on his resume.
While McBride is obviously one of the best receiving tight ends in the league, he stresses he wants to improve his run blocking.
”Run blocking — you can always be better at run blocking,” says McBride. “Those defensive ends are good and to block those guys is hard. Just continue working on that to be the best run-blocking guy that I can be.”
The third-year tight end also mentions wanting to be better at reading coverages.
“Being able to read coverages, being able to see those coverages as fast as you can and being able to disguise them and dissect them as fast as you need to,” says McBride. “That’s something that sticks out to me. Trying to continue seeing coverages, reading them as fast as I can and most importantly, run blocking for sure.”
McBride points towards Kittle as being the all-around tight end that he wants to become.
”I think George is a guy that sticks out to me,” says McBride. “He’s a guy who is such an elite player in both the run game and the pass game. That’s something I think that makes a great tight end is being able to do both. I love watching him play. I love playing in the same division as him.”