“No, I don’t”: Cardinals All-Pro Trey McBride shuts down ‘best TE in NFL’ talk after record 126-catch season

Trey McBride just posted one of the greatest seasons a tight end has ever had. He still refuses to call himself the best in football.The Arizona Cardinals star caught 126 passes in 2025, the most ever by a tight end in a single season.

He earned first-team All-Pro honors. Yet, during an appearance on the “Ross Tucker Football Podcast” last week, McBride pushed back on the label many have already given him.

Trey McBride says Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Mark Andrews still set the standard

When asked if he considers himself the top tight end in the NFL, McBride did not hesitate. “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.

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It is a cautious answer. The production suggests otherwise.Through four seasons, McBride has 3,475 receiving yards. That total ranks fourth all-time for a tight end in his first four years, trailing only Jimmy Graham (3,863), Mike Ditka (3,671) and George Kittle (3,579).

It also exceeds what Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Gates posted over their first four seasons.In 2025 alone, McBride finished with 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was the No. 1 fantasy tight end and the Cardinals’ most consistent pass catcher. That is not projection. That is production.

Elite numbers, losing seasons and what comes next for the Arizona Cardinals

McBride’s breakout has come during a difficult stretch for Arizona. Since he was drafted in the second round in 2022, the Cardinals have won 19 games in four seasons.

They went 8-9 in 2024, their best mark in that span. They won three games in 2025.McBride acknowledged the frustration. “Yeah, it was hard,” he said. “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.”Jonathan Gannon is out. Mike LaFleur is in as head coach, with Drew Petzing back in the offensive mix. LaFleur comes from systems that feature tight ends heavily, including time spent under Sean McVay and alongside Matt LaFleur.If usage remains high, McBride’s volume should not dip. He does not claim the throne. Not yet. But if 126 catches and a first-team All-Pro nod are not enough to enter the conversation, the bar might be higher than anyone wants to admit.