Report: Oakland A's to Meet With Kyler Murray to Discuss Entering NFL Draft
A contingent led by Oakland A's team president Billy Beane will meet with Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray on Sunday in hopes of getting him to skip the 2019 NFL draft, Bob Nightengale of USA Todayreports.
Murray was taken by the A's with the No. 9 pick in the 2018 MLB draft and then went on to play his final season of college football with Oklahoma. He led the Sooners to a Big 12 title and a trip to the College Football Playoff, but they were eliminated in the semifinals.
Murray has until Monday to declare for the NFL draft, and then he has an additional 72 hours to change his mind after he declares, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com.
Previous reports indicated Murray is looking for a $15 million deal with the A's, or else he will put his name in for the NFL draft. But according to the San Francisco Chronicles' Susan Slusser, Murray has not made any monetary demands of the A’s.
Murray was already set to earn a $4.66 million signing bonus after getting drafted.
ESPN's Jeff Passan reports that in order to guarantee money in addition to Murray's signing bonus, the A's would have to add Murray to their 40-man roster. Currently, MLB has a rule in place which prevents teams from giving major league contracts to drafted players. Murray has already signed a minor league deal.
In what might have been his final season playing football, Murray tossed for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns while completing 69% of his passes and rushing for 1,001 yards and 12 additional scores.
