Chase Bisontis tears MCL, faces surgery and lost Cardinals rookie season

It's the kind of news no rookie wants to see a week into training camp football. Chase Bisontis, Arizona's second-round pick out of Texas A&M, suffered a torn MCL in the Cardinals' preseason game against the Raiders and will need surgery to repair it, according to Ian Rapoport.

Bisontis was Arizona's 34th overall pick this year, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound three-year starter at Texas A&M who could play guard or tackle. He signed his four-year rookie deal and was immediately in the mix at right guard, listed as the second-team option while pushing incumbent Isaiah Adams for the starting job. That competition is now on hold before it ever really got going.

ProFootballDoc David Chao broke down the injury shortly after Rapoport's report, and there's a silver lining buried in the bad news. The ACL was spared, which matters long-term, but needing isolated MCL surgery is rare enough that it points to a grade 3, severe tear.

Chao didn't sugarcoat what that means for 2026. He called it the most serious knee injury of the day around the league and said Bisontis' return is looking more like a booth conversation than a football one this season.

The good news, if there is any, is that isolated MCL repairs with an intact ACL and meniscus generally point to a full recovery — just not one that happens on this season's timeline. For a Cardinals offensive line that was counting on Bisontis to compete for immediate snaps, it's a gut punch that pushes Adams back into the lead role and reshuffles the depth chart before Week 1 even gets set.