While Kyler Murray was selected No. 9 overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB Draft, baseball was not in his future. He was the starting quarterback for Oklahoma during the 2018 college football season, won the Heisman Trophy and was selected first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. It’s safe to say that was a good decision.
Murray signed a contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday that will pay him $46.1 million per year. Given the notoriously thifty behavior of the MLB team that drafted him, his decision to play football has paid off financially.
CBS Sports noted on Twitter that Murray’s $46.1 million AAV is just shy of the A’s entire payroll for the 2022 MLB season.
Kyler Murray is set to make $46.1M a year with his new contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals.
The Oakland Athletics, the team who took Murray 9th overall in the 2018 MLB draft, have a payroll of $48.5M this season 😲 pic.twitter.com/OZvZnKYhu8
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 21, 2022
Baseball and football fans alike reacted to the stark contrast.
This is mind-blowing. https://t.co/ypJjC9ekW5
— Jennifer Lee Chan – threads @jenniferleechan (@jenniferleechan) July 21, 2022
The Astros just used their private charter to fly All-Star Paul Blackburn to LA cause the A's wanted him to take commercial. 😭 Think Murray's feeling good now? https://t.co/bn4u24DJYH
— Kate Magdziuk (@katemagdziuk) July 21, 2022
https://t.co/P5EtE9lW4x pic.twitter.com/Ul7CSljBfg
— Stephen Nehrenz (@StephenNehrenz) July 21, 2022
— Ali Thanawalla (@Ali_Thanawalla) July 21, 2022
In fairness to the A’s, the lost MLB players approaching Murray’s $46.1 million AAV is slim. Max Scherzer is the only baseball player making over $40 million during the 2022 season.
That said, normally speaking, baseball is probably a better career path financially. Jeff Samardzija signed a five-year deal worth $90 million with MLB’s San Francisco Giants ahead of the 2016 season. Samardzija was a star college football player at Notre Dame and likely would have been a first-round pick in the NFL Draft in 2007. Calvin Johnson, who — like Samardzija — was an wide receiver, was drafted second overall in that draft and retired after the 2015 NFL season ended.
So, as a rule of thumb, a career in baseball will be more lucrative and longer-lasting than football. But if you play the right position in football and are potentially headed to the right (or wrong, in this case), MLB team, there are exceptions to that rule. We’re sure that Murray is happy with his decision.
