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EspañolThe 2026 league year is coming up very soon. It officially begins at 1 p.m. Arizona time on March 11, with the legal negotiating period beginning on March 9 at 9 a.m. Arizona time.
The Arizona Cardinals have several roster decisions to make before then.
Leading up to the new league year, we will profile every player on the roster, go over what they did last season, what their contract status is and what they face in 2026.
Next up is defensive lineman Bilal Nichols.
Bilal Nichols 2025 season
It was another lost for season for Nichols after playing only six games the year before because of a neck injury that landed him on injured reserve and carried over into 2025. He opened the season on reserve/physically unable to perform and was activated Oct. 4. He was inactive for five games and played four before suffering a knee injury and landing on IR Dec. 13. In those four games, he played 174 snaps (45 percent).
Bilal Nichols contract status
In his first two seasons with the Cardinals, Nichols was paid $14.39 million and played in only 10 games. This is the final season of his contract and there is no guaranteed money. The base salary is $5.695 with a cap charge of $7.805 million.
Bilal Nichols offseason outlook
It is expected that Nichols will be released, which will result in $2 million of dead money against the cap as the final proration of his $6 million signing bonus.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Bilal Nichols' contract status and 2026 offseason outlook