The Kyler Murray saga took yet another turn this offseason.
The Cardinals’ Pro Bowl quarterback is a rare talent, conjuring the sort of magic that some quarterbacks could only dream of. Despite some uneven moments last season, the Cardinals would struggle without him.
And Murray knows all this for a fact, even after he restored all the Cardinals photos to his Instagram page. According to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, it seems he’s going to hold firm and try and muscle the Cardinals for (some of) all they’re worth despite two years left on his rookie contract. More drama for the Cards to contend with:
The #Cardinals have yet to make a contract offer to Pro Bowl QB Kyler Murray, whose agent, Erik Burkhardt, informed the team weeks ago he was pulling his opening proposal off the table, per sources.
Other teams are monitoring closely; Arizona insists Murray won’t be traded.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 14, 2022
You’d think Arizona would have any coherent strategy to keep their quarterback happy. Ignoring all demands altogether is not coherent. I don’t know about you, but no contract offer on the table — only two weeks before the 2022 Draft — doesn’t seem like a happy development.
What’s more plausible: Do the Cardinals know what they’re doing with Murray, who has only recently started showing public discontent with his team?
Or does the brain trust led by GM Steve Keim have zero clue about how to get back into Murray’s good graces, and they’re hoping a simmering situation evaporates away?
I’d probably roll with the latter if I know the NFL. At least by perception, proactiveness is not a strong suit for a great deal of this league.
Perhaps Murray has blindsided the Cardinals by being proactive in asking for an early massive contract extension. But Murray has, and it’s thrown Arizona for a loop.
Obviously, the Cardinals didn’t want to have this headache on their plate. After a humiliating finish to the 2021 season where they lost their final five home games before a one-and-done postseason, the absolute last idea anyone in Arizona wanted to consider was a future without Murray.
How else could you characterize what Arizona has done since February with Murray? They’ve been caught in the headlights every step of the way.
Now the chickens have come to roost.
Four QBs – Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr – have signed contract extensions worth $40 million or more in the past month as the market continues to go up.
Murray is due about $5.5 million in 2022, and it’d be a surprise if he plays on that deal.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 14, 2022
My advice to them? You listen if your star quarterback says he’s not going to play on his current contract. You listen if he essentially says he feels underappreciated — regardless of whether you agree with the merits of his rationale.
Murray is taking the rational path of a person in his corner. He’s using the leverage of being a star quarterback that lifts an entire team on his shoulders while he still can. And more power to him.
The Cardinals better wise up and think of something soon, or they might soon really become an irrelevant afterthought.
