3 Honest Final Thoughts as Kyler Murray Officially Begins Anew

The Arizona Cardinals move into the future, officially, without Kyler Murray for the first time in eight seasons.

Murray's release was processed on Wednesday of this week while Thursday saw Murray officially sign with the Minnesota Vikings.

It's a different path for both the Cardinals and Murray, and a bit of a tough pillow to swallow after Murray was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019 draft.

Three thoughts as the Cardinals move into the post-Murray era:

1. It's Unfortunate, But Needed to Happen

It became pretty clear something wasn't clicking on both ends to make this work after seven years. It's unfortunate, but both sides needed a fresh start.

The Cardinals simply needed to rip the band-aid off of the Murray experiment. Despite some clear highlight reel plays, they never had a steady and consistent top-10/12 quarterback presence over the course of one season.

For Murray, he'll be able to hit the reset button and escape a Cardinals organization that clearly still has work to do from top to bottom. Arizona shares some blame in why Murray didn't ultimately pan out, either.

This divorce doesn't have to be messy or exclusively beneficial for only one side.

2. Vikings Were Always The Best Choice for Kyler

There were plenty of teams interested in Murray after his departure was made public, though it always felt as if the Vikings made the most sense.

Murray now has the opportunity to play under top offensive mind Kevin O'Connell with superstar reciever Justin Jefferson in the mix, among other talented weapons. Murray will play home games in another indoor stadium while the Vikings are much more prepared to make a playoff push now compared to some other organizations.

He's on a one-year deal for minimal salary, and with so many options to really bet on yourself for 202, it's tough to think of better available circumstances when Murray hit the market.

3. Cardinals Now Enter QB Purgatory — With No End in Sight

Such is life when you make the tough decisions.

I was never for the argument of keeping Murray around because you couldn't find better options. That needed to be an independant factor, and to general manager Monti Ossenfort's credit, he did it to hopefully set the future of the position up for long-term success.

Yet the Cardinals now again put themselves into the dark abyss that is quarterback territory, and there's no end in sight.

No options were a consensus strong route for the Cardinals to find an immediate fix while banking on next year's draft class isn't a suitable option (remember when people were saying this class was full of top prospects?) — so much has to happen for the Cardinals to be in a spot to truly grab a top passer.

This doesn't make Ossenfort's decision to move off Murray wrong. While acknowledging that, who knows when another suitable quarterback will arrive to the desert?