What Kyler Murray’s Release Actually Means for the Cardinals’ Salary Cap

For the first time in eight seasons, the Arizona Cardinals will move into a season without Kyler Murray as their franchise quarterback.

News of Murray's expected release made waves through the NFL world yesterday, though the move can't become official until March 11.

In a week's time, Murray will be free and able to hit the open market. While he's sure to have plenty of interested teams, where does this leave the Cardinals in terms of cap space?

Where Cardinals Are Left After Kyler Murray Release

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws the ball against the Seattle Seahawks at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, on Sept. 25, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Cardinals have a few different options when it comes to Murray's release and how it's handled.

The first is a flat-out release before June 1, which would see them eat $54.7 million in dead cap space this offseason. In total, Arizona's salary cap for 2026 would drop $2 million since that's the difference between his initial cap hit this coming year and the total money owed to him by cutting him.

Dead cap space is simply accelerated bonus/guaranteed money due to a player that will no longer be on the roster.

Arizona made the decision to cut Murray before March 15, when $19.5 million of his 2027 salary would have become fully guaranteed. They were smart to make a decision and move on from him prior to that date so his total didn't jump to even more eye-opening numbers.

Another option for the Cardinals would be a Post-June 1 release, which would lower Arizona's hit on the cap this year but would extend Murray's dead money across two years as opposed to one.

Doing so would see the Cardinals take on $47.5 million in dead money this year with $7.2 million deferred to 2027. Doing so would save Arizona $5 million in cap this offseason.

Projected cap space with Pre-June 1 cut: $28.6 million
Projected cap space with Post-June 1 cut: $35.8 million

The Cardinals have to ask themselves if they're content with taking on the entire cap hit this offseason or if they want to spread it out across two years. Arizona has other avenues to generate around $25 million more in space with other cuts this offseason.

OverTheCap highlighted Murray's contract has offset language in it, which could see him sign for minimal money elsewhere in free agency:

"Murray’s guarantee is subject to offsets so it is likely that he will sign a contract for the veterans minimum and try to compete for a job. There are some ways to sneak money into the contract and avoid offsets but that would require a multi year deal and he has more to gain by playing well this year and becoming a free agent again in 2027. Any money earned in 2026 will be credited to the Cardinals salary cap in 2027."

Murray could opt to do this and essentially make Arizona foot the entire bill they're due rather than trying to squeeze closer to market value out of interested teams.

The league minimum salary would be $1.3 million.

There's also some potential base salary conversion Arizona can do with Murray's contract, though it feels like both parties just want to move on without any extra theatrics.

The Cardinals' salary cap certainly isn't in a dire spot with Murray's pending release. Yes, $54.7 million is a lot of money to pay someone not on your football team no matter how you slice it.

His contract largely prevented him from being traded, which would have been preferred for the Cardinals as they would have only taken on $17.9 million in dead cap with $34.7 million in cap savings this offseason.

However, a team trading for Murray would have ingested $41.9 million on their books for 2026 alone.

Arizona — in a worst case scenario — only takes a $2 million hit against their cap this year while saving over $40 million in future salary cap years.

Thanks to his 2026 cap hit already being large with his presence on the team, his departure isn't ultimately costly depending on how the Cardinals want to handle it.