ESPN: Cardinals Moving on From Kyler Murray is 'Likely'
The Arizona Cardinals are all in for trying to win in 2023, yet it's 2024 and beyond where fans and analysts believe they'll make some noise.
The team has undergone a massive culture shock since the regime of GM Monti Ossenfort and HC Jonathan Gannon took over. Guys such as Marquise Brown and Isaiah Simmons - both on the final year of their contract - have no loyal ties with the new front office.
The same goes for Kyler Murray, even after being paid a massive five-year, $230.5 million contract last offseason. Murray is working towards rehabbing a torn ACL and meniscus with a brand new offensive coordinator at the helm.
There's been a vast amount of smoke when it comes to Murray's future in the desert, though we won't have a clue of what that will be until we see where the Cardinals finish in the standings and how Murray himself looks, whenever he does return.
At this point in time, ESPN's Dan Graziano says the most likely scenario is Murray departing the team after 2023:
"The Cardinals are paying Murray $39 million this season, and $35.3 million of his 2024 salary is fully guaranteed. Additionally, if he's on the roster at the start of the 2024 league year, another $29.9 million in 2025 salary and bonuses becomes guaranteed. So if he were to struggle -- and/or if the Cardinals' new management decided it wanted to move on from him after 2023 -- it would have to make that decision before mid-March," said Graziano.
"Cutting him at that point would result in about $81.5 million in dead money on their 2024 cap. Trading him before the 2025 guarantees kick in would be difficult, but it would drop that dead-money cap hit to about $46.2 million.
"Massive, massive numbers, but remember that the Cardinals not only have their own first-round pick next April but also Houston's selection. They could be in position to draft the best quarterback prospect in the 2024 class -- which right now is USC's Caleb Williams -- and have him for five years on a rookie deal. That would make a big dead-money hit a lot easier to swallow.
"Most likely outcome: After Murray takes at least a little while (maybe even a long while) to come back, the Cardinals finish with one of the league's worst records in 2023 and draft either Williams or UNC's Drake Maye. They have to find a solution to the Murray contract problem next offseason, ideally convincing some other team to take him off their hands and help defray the dead-money cost as Arizona moves on to a future without him."
Graziano pointed out the "long-shot" scenario of him staying:
"Murray returns in September, plays like gangbusters and convinces the Cardinals to use all of those high picks to build around him rather than replace him."
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