This Kyler Murray–Jets Mock Trade Is Almost Too Perfect

The offseason is still young, but soon enough we will start to see significant movement across the league.

The new league year officially kicks off in March and so, too, we'll see plenty of action in free agency, as well as the trade market. For the New York Jets, their biggest question starts and ends with the quarterback position. Last offseason, the Jets tried to solve it by handing Justin Fields a two-year deal. The deal itself seemed to be worth it and Fields is still young enough to believe that he has plenty of upside. But the 2025 season didn't go as planned and he got benched. So, should the Jets give him another shot or look for another answer? That's a real question for Darren Mougey, Aaron Glenn and the franchise as a whole.

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If the Jets opt to go in a different direction, there won't be a ton of options, but one guy who has consistently been linked to the franchise in trade rumors has been Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals. ESPN's Bill Barnwell shared a column pitching trade proposals that "fit for both teams" and his mock trade for New York would be too good to pass up.

The Jets should call the Cardinals

Nov 3, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) looks on from the field before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

"Jets get: QB Kyler Murray, 2026 sixth-round pick," Barnwell wrote. "Cardinals get: 2026 fourth-round pick. Midway through the 2025 season, it seemed clear that the Cardinals were out of the Kyler Murray business. His foot injury, which had been a week-to-week issue, suddenly escalated to the point where the 2019 No. 1 pick was placed on injured reserve, and never returned. Jacoby Brissett played reasonably well in Murray's absence and remains under contract in 2026. The Cardinals already changed coaching staffs this offseason, but moving on from the franchise quarterback is decided at the ownership level. ...

"Swapping a Day 3 selection for a quarterback who ranked 14th in Total QBR over the past two years won't hurt an organization that has a ton of draft capital after the Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner trades. Jets fans would love to add their quarterback of the future after seeing Sam Darnold thrive in Seattle, but they also haven't had even league-average QB play in a season since Josh McCown put together a solid year for the Jets in 2017.

"With nearly $79 million in cap space, the Jets also have plenty of money to spend. The Cardinals would save $34 million on their 2026 cap and that $78 million or so in cash over the next two years if they trade Murray before June 1."

If you can get a 28-year-old, 2-time Pro Bowl quarterback for a fourth-round pick, and you get a sixth-round pick in return, you make that deal. Now, this is an ESPN insider making the pitch and not a current general manager. So, there's no way to know if this is something Arizona would even consider. But if this were on the table, it would solve the team's quarterback problem for a cheap cost from a draft pick perspective.

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