TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride was in the middle of a round of golf with teammate Zaven Collins on Thursday when he got the call that his record-breaking extension was a done deal.

McBride went on to have “one of the best rounds” he has ever played, he said.

“Maybe it was a high stress or no stress, I don’t know what it was,” McBride said. “But I was playing really well.”

McBride fought back tears at his news conference Friday, saying the four-year, $76 million extension that made him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history was a “sigh of relief” and a “weight off my shoulders” ahead of OTAs. Now, he said, he “can just focus on playing football.”

“I’m glad it got done when it got done, and just eager, excited, all the emotions,” he said.

And there were a lot of them.

He described his NFL journey, from his rookie year, when he was drafted in the second round in 2022 but had just 29 catches, to the next season, when new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing told him that despite being a great tight end he might not play as much in the early games.

Then veteran Zach Ertz was released in late October 2023 and McBride was made TE1 — and took off.

“I kept my head down and I kept grinding,” McBride said as his eyes reddened. “I kept working hard, and I knew my opportunity was going to come, and when it came, I knew I had to seize it. And I feel like that’s exactly what I did, and I just put the work in every day. I put the work in over time, and to finally reap the rewards is exciting.”

The magnitude of the past day struck McBride, who said the emotion was “happy tears, for sure.”

“It’s just crazy overwhelming, and a lot of hard work has gone into this,” he said. “So, just excited more than anything, just excited.”

McBride said he had been confident that a deal would get done but didn’t know when. However, the 25-year-old said he didn’t stress out about the possibility of a new contract. When the deal landed, he was brought back to his time growing up in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

“To [be from Fort Morgan and to] go play Division I college football is a huge deal, so to be the highest-paid tight end from Fort Morgan, I mean, gosh, it’s just the biggest honor,” McBride said. “I mean, it’s so cool. It’s very special, man. If you would’ve told me I would’ve been the highest paid, I would’ve never believed you.”

However, McBride said it was “kind of a bummer” that news of his extension leaked before he could call his parents and brother to tell them and then celebrate together.

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was one of the first people who reached out to him, and they talked about “how excited we are to play with each other for a few more years, to grow, to win, to do all the things that we want to do together,” McBride said.

McBride, who leads all tight ends in receptions (192) and first downs (105) over the past two seasons, said he believes that there’s “always room for improvement” and that he can’t afford to ever be “stagnant.”

“There’s still a lot out there,” said McBride, who is coming off his first Pro Bowl nod. “There’s still more in the tank. I’m young. I still feel like I’m scratching the surface of what I can do.”

McBride’s drop percentage of 0.7 is the lowest in the NFL since he entered the league in 2022 among 78 players with at least 200 targets, according to ESPN Research. Over that time, he has dropped just two passes on 296 targets.

McBride said he won’t feel pressure to live up to a four-year extension and the title of highest-paid tight end in NFL history.

“I had no pressure when I was on a rookie deal, and I don’t expect any pressure now,” he said. “I’m just going to continue to do what I’ve done, continue to put the work in, and everything really does take care of it. So, if you just do the right thing, you work hard, and everything will take care of it.”