The National Football League is back in action as the preseason gets underway on Thursday night with the Hall of Fame game between the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers.
The game is set to honour former franchise icons Larry Fitzgerald and Luke Kuechly, who are set to be enshrined in the hallowed halls of Canton on Saturday afternoon alongside fellow Class of 2026 members Drew Brees, Adam Vinateieri, and Roger Craig.
Watch the Hall of Fame game LIVE Thursday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.
Arizona head into the new year with a new head coach in Mike LaFleur, who took over after Jonathan Gannon was fired following a 3-14 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
2025 also spelled the end for Kyler Murray’s time with the team, with the Cardinals releasing the former No. 1 overall pick after seven years in the desert.
Arizona heads into 2026 with a quarterback room of Jacoby Brissett, who ended his holdout after inking a one-year deal worth up to $21 million, Gardner Minshew, and rookie passer Carson Beck.
LaFleur has tabbed Beck to start under centre on Thursday for his first appearance in a competitive game since his Miami Hurricanes fell to the Indiana Hoosiers in the NCAA national championship in January.
“I had no clue I was going to start,” the third-round pick told ESPN after the announcement was made earlier this week. “I really didn’t have any expectations of going into any of this.”
“Obviously, our schedule is absolutely crazy right now, practice, meetings with training camp and whatnot. But, yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I’m really excited.”
Beck, a two-time national champion with the Georgia Bulldogs, led the SEC with 338 completions in his senior season, also throwing for 3,813 yards with 30 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.
The Panthers finally took the next step in their rebuild last season, winning the NFC South with an 8-9 record and making the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, took the next step in his development after a difficult first two years in the league, setting career-highs with 3,011 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and a 63.6 completion percentage.
The Alabama product has two more years left on his rookie contract, and could be in for a big season now that he is eligible for an extension as he tries to secure a new deal befitting a franchise quarterback.
Young will not feature in the Hall of Fame game and will cede his starting job to Kenny Pickett to kick off the preseason.
Pickett signed a one-year, $4 million contract over the offseason to serve as Young’s backup after getting into just 11 games over the past two seasons as the No. 2 passer on the depth chart with the Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders.
Pickett, a former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, is reportedly set to play the first couple of series for the Panthers on Thursday, and will give way to Haynes King for the rest of the game.
King, an undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech, threw for 2,951 yards and 14 touchdowns last year for the Yellow Jackets, adding another 953 yards and 15 scores on the ground.
This is just the second time that Carolina will feature in the Hall of Fame game after debuting as a franchise back in 1995, while the Cardinals are back for the sixth time and first since 2017.
