Report: Kyler Murray’s Cardinals Tenure Ending in Disappointing Fashion

The end of the Kyler Murray era appears to be near in the desert.

After months of speculation and drama, the Arizona Cardinals will likely release Murray ahead of free agency according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.

"There's going to be an unprecedented number of starting caliber quarterbacks available for very little money," said Rapoport at the NFL Combine.

"... You've got Tua Tagovailoa, likely released. You got Kyler Murray, a likely release from the Arizona Cardinals absent of a last-minute trade, which I would be a little surprised about."

Kyler Murray is a "likely release" from the Arizona Cardinals and would be "surprised" if there were a last second trade, per @RapSheet pic.twitter.com/620yeOTKKN
— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) March 1, 2026

Why This is Dissapointing For Cardinals

For Murray, this is great — he'll have the opportunity to hit the open market and choose his next team rather than the Cardinals dictating his future. Still in his prime, this is an advantageous spot for Murray.

As for the Cardinals, however, this is massively dissapointing.

Not so much in the sense that Murray is departing. This is a needed split between the two sides. Murray couldn't deliver as the franchise's No. 1 pick after seven years under center while Arizona also failed to build a suitable team around him for much of his tenure.

With new head coach Mike LaFleur in town, it makes sense for the Cardinals to part ways.

Yet it's dissapointing in the sense that Arizona won't even get a sizable return for Murray in a trade while having to eat over $50 million in dead cap space. Letting him walk for nothing hurts, even if it's what the Cardinals have to do in order to move forward.

Arizona's 2026 salary cap picture won't be impacted greatly by his release, as that figure will only drop $2 million — so there's some saving grace.

Trading Murray would have seen Arizona eat only $17.9 million in salary this offseason — though an acquiring team would have ingested $41.9 million for the coming season, $36.8 million of which was guaranteed.

Murray's undoubtedly the most talented quarterback projected to be available this offseason, and should he hit free agency as expected, the Cardinals' passer should garner interest from plenty of teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings among others.

Murray is a two-time Pro Bowl passer that also won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2019.

The Cardinals go into the future with numerous possibilities at their quarterback position — though one surprise name has emerged with years of working experience under LaFleur. You can read more about that here.