Cardinals' Kyler Murray Decision Looks Worse in Hindsight

The Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray pairing lasted seven years, affording fans highs and lows from the former No. 1 overall pick through his stint in the desert.

Murray's elite athleticism, arm talent and off-script playmaking made him next in line of young franchise quarterbacks — and for a few seasons, that's exactly what fans at State Farm Stadium experienced. Rookie of the year honors and a 2021 run to the postseason quickly followed with multiple Pro Bowls.

Yet things crumbled, with Murray's ACL injury late in 2022 serving as a turning point in his career. As fate would have it, the Cardinals would fire multiple coaches with Murray on the roster, and entering 2026, it was time to start fresh.

That rang true for both parties, though it's easy to second-guess the decision after the dust settles.

ESPN Thinks Cardinals Fumbled Kyler Murray

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray watches his team from the sidelines as they play the San Francisco 49ers at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Nov. 16, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Grading each team's offseason, ESPN's Seth Walder awarded the Cardinals a prestigious "D" grade and laid into the organization's handling of Murray:

"Murray was due more than $78 million over the next two years, which would have been guaranteed had he remained on the roster on March 15. That was more than any team would have wanted to take on for him. But what if Arizona had paid his $17 million roster bonus and then traded him? The Cardinals could have even converted some of his salary into a signing bonus. They could have received draft pick compensation for Murray while paying him, say, $20 million this year to not play for them. Or even $30 million!

"Instead, the Cardinals released the quarterback, will pay him $35.5 million to not play for them and didn't receive any compensation. Perhaps no team wanted to bite on option A. But if that's the case, was it worth cutting Murray ? If the $35.5 million was sunk cost, all the Cardinals would be signing up for by keeping him was a league minimum salary in 2026 and $19.5 million fully guaranteed in 2027 (he'd have been owed another $17 million or so if they wanted to keep him for 2027). Surely Murray was worth that."

Walder does make some valid points, but hindsight is very much 20/20 when it comes to Murray.

Why Cardinals Made Tough (But Right) Kyler Murray Decision

Murray's contract was nearly impossible for the Cardinals to trade, and even if Arizona swallowed that roster bonus, the value on Murray was nowhere near practical enough to offload him.

In an ideal world, Arizona would have gotten something for Murray rather than the eventual avenue they took in flat-out releasing him. Yet if the Cardinals were going to jump through the hoops to pay his 2027 roster bonus and convert a signing bonus like Walder suggested, they weren't far off from releasing him like they ultimately did.

The big picture that gets lost with Murray isn't about the money, or the draft picks they potentially missed out on.

It was about kicking the can down the road and not delaying the inevitable anymore.

It became abundantly clear the Cardinals and Murray were screaming towards a divorce down the stretch of the 2025 season. Murray's upside was never fully realized in Arizona while the quarterback deserved a fresh start to prove himself elsewhere.

It was a tough move, but one that absolutely made sense for both sides.

Rarely do NFL quarterbacks survive three different coaching staff changes. With the hire of Mike LaFleur, the Cardinals sent a clear message in wanting to hit the reset button across the board, which included quarterback.

If the Cardinals didn't plan on playing Murray and only kept him to save money, that would have created both an unnecessary distraction in the locker room and would have been a strong disservice to a player who deserves to start somewhere else.

Did that send Arizona into quarterback purgatory? It sure did, and who knows when the Cardinals again will be confident in the future of the position.

Yet there was a breaking point reached where the Cardinals were forced to think about the future, no matter the cost. After firing Gannon, who believed in Murray more than anybody, that breaking point was this offseason.

It feels like hindsight will always be 20/20 with Murray's time in the desert, though their decision was a tough (but correct) call.

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