Cardinals Lose DT Mustipher for the Year, Claim Brodric Martin
A foot injury in Arizona's first padded practice ends Mustipher's season before it starts. The Cards answered by claiming a well-traveled 330-pound DT.
Third-string DT with 4 career tackles — deep-league IDP flyer at best.
- Mustipher on IR, misses entire 2026 regular season
- Injury came in Cardinals' first padded practice
- Martin claimed off waivers, listed third-string DT
- Martin: 4 career tackles across 6 games, 1 start
- Just 63 defensive snaps in three NFL seasons
The Cardinals' training camp took a hit before the pads had even been on for a full day. Defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher suffered a severe foot injury during Arizona's first padded practice and landed on injured reserve. Because of when the move happened, he's done for the entire regular season — no return window, no midseason activation.
To backfill the depth chart, Arizona claimed 6-foot-5, 330-pound DT Brodric Martin, a 2023 third-round pick out of Western Kentucky. Martin comes with plenty of NFL mileage but very little production: six games played, one start, and just 4 total tackles across three seasons. He's currently penciled in as third-string behind Darius Robinson and Dante Stills.
Martin's résumé reads like a waiver-wire road trip. Detroit drafted him, then a hyperextended left knee in the 2024 preseason wrecked what had been a strong camp. He returned in November of that year but was a final cut last summer. Kansas City claimed him for the practice squad, Pittsburgh grabbed him and waived him after one game, and the Raiders signed him before waiving him with an injury designation this past May.
The college pedigree was legit — 62 tackles, 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss over 28 games at Western Kentucky after starting out at Northern Alabama. The pro production just hasn't followed. Three seasons in, he's logged only 63 defensive snaps and 2 on special teams.
The Fantasy Fallout
For IDP managers, Mustipher was never a rostered asset, so his injury doesn't move your board. It's a depth loss for Arizona, not a fantasy earthquake. Martin is the name to file away, and even then only in the deepest tackle-heavy leagues where snap counts matter more than splash plays.
Bottom line: leave Martin on waivers unless a Robinson or Stills injury vaults him into a real role. He's a warm body on a crowded interior line, not a producer. Watch the Arizona DT depth chart through the preseason, but don't burn a roster spot chasing a player with four career tackles.
