The Arizona Cardinals have until Wednesday to decide whether or not they would activate Trey Benson from injured reserve.
After designating him to return a few weeks back, the Cardinals had 21 days to activate Benson or else he'd have to miss the rest of the season.
On Wednesday, head coach Jonathan Gannon announced the team's decision: Benson will not be activated and will miss the rest of the 2025 campaign.
"RB Trey Benson will not be activated off IR. Out for rest of season," Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com reported.
This is not a surprising decision considering the recent developments with Benson.
For starters, Gannon signaled last week that he wasn't ruled out Benson not being activated off injured reserve.
But the writing was also on the wall before that after Benson went from taking part in practice on a limited basis to being a non-participant, which was a clear sign he had suffered a setback.
With Benson's season now over, the Cardinals will continue to rely on Bam Knight as their lead back, with Michael Carter and Emari Demercado (when he returns from injury) also mixing in.
As for Benson, the 2026 campaign will be a big one for him.
A former third-round pick in 2024, he has not been able to show much over his first two seasons in the NFL and is going to need to cement himself as the starting back next season or else the clock will start ticking on his future in Arizona.
How clear his path to a starting job will be remains to be seen, though, as James Conner is still under contract. However, the veteran is a clear cut candidate after suffering a significant injury earlier in the season.
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