The Arizona Cardinals gave the 49ers a gift in the 2019 NFL draft. Instead of taking Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa with the first overall pick, Arizona selected Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray. That let Bosa slide to the 49ers at the No. 2 overall pick. Bosa was widely considered the top player in the draft, but Murray wound up winning over the Cardinals throughout the draft process. Skipping on Bosa hasn’t gone well for Arizona, just as the defensive end told the team it would.
Former Cardinals general manager Steve Keim on Friday joined The Herd with Colin Cowherd and told a story about a pre-draft threat Bosa issued to Keim and then-head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“‘I think you guys are probably gonna end up taking that little quarterback,'” Bosa said according to Keim. “‘And if you do,’ he looked over at me and said, ‘Steve, I will haunt you for the rest of your career.'”
Bosa wasn’t wrong.
He went on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and helped spearhead the NFL’s best defensive line that led the 49ers to a Super Bowl berth in 2019. Arizona went 5-10-1.
In Bosa and Murray’s four years in the league, Bosa has been to three NFC championship games and that Super Bowl. Murray’s Cardinals have been to the playoffs once, where they were lambasted 34-11 to cap their only winning season since Murray arrived.
Bosa in seven games against the Cardinals has 24 tackles, six tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits and 3.0 sacks.
Keim stepped down as Arizona’s GM last year, citing health reasons. Kingsbury was fired after the season. Meanwhile, Bosa is on track to become the highest paid defensive player in football this offseason following a 2022 campaign where he led the NFL in sacks and won the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Perhaps Keim and Kingsbury would draft Murray all over again. Taking a big swing for a franchise quarterback does make sense, but given how dominant Bosa has been it’s hard to believe that duo would opt not to heed the defensive end’s pre-draft warning if given a do-over.
