During the 2019 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals drafted quarterback Kyler Murray as the No. 1 overall pick, hoping that he would be the team’s franchise quarterback and lead the team for the foreseeable future. But based on his current contract, that future might actually be pretty uncertain.
This week, NFL analyst Warren Sharp shared a pretty horrible outlook for the Cardinals with Murray as their quarterback given his current contract.
“Kyler Murray’s cap hits & Cardinals record
2019: $ 6.4M & 5-10-1
2020: $ 8.1M & 8-8
2021: $ 9.8M & 9-5
2022: $12.7M & 3-8
2023: $16.0M & 5-12*
—-
2024: $51.9M
2025: $45.6M
2026: $55.5M
*projected by linesmakers
… once those cap hits kick in,” Sharp said, adding an eyes emoji for emphasis.
Kyler Murray's cap hits & Cardinals record
2019: $ 6.4M & 5-10-1
2020: $ 8.1M & 8-8
2021: $ 9.8M & 9-5
2022: $12.7M & 3-8
2023: $16.0M & 5-12*
—-
2024: $51.9M 👀
2025: $45.6M 👀
2026: $55.5M 👀*projected by linesmakers
… once those cap hits kick in 👀
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 10, 2023
Obviously, the implication behind the tweet from Sharp is that if the Cardinals couldn’t win many games with Murray even when his salary had very little impact on the team’s salary cap, it’s going to be very difficult for the team to be successful once his contract takes up a massive portion of the team’s salary cap.
It’s a pretty horrible situation that the Cardinals are facing, and the NFL world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
If the Cardinals are smart they should just draft Anthony Richardson and build with a rookie contract.
Move on from Kyler now – because it's clear he lacks leadership and coming off an ACL there is no telling if he will be the same player.
— Seraph (@Starry_Fishbowl) April 10, 2023
Will be interesting to see what they do with his contract in 2024. If they don’t rework his 37M salary into a bonus you know they are trying to move on from him.
— David LeBlanc (@TheDavidL81) April 10, 2023
Few QBs are worth paying. Teams need to figure out the difference between and good and great. Paying good gets you maybe to the playoffs (Dak, Cousins), and that's it.
— Jake (@LFCBuckeye) April 10, 2023
Now show their drafts and free agent decisions like letting Chandler walk so they could pay a retiring JJ Watt. Trading Hopkins for cap space when they should be building around Murray. Paying Conner and letting corners walk.
Just bad roster management. https://t.co/XkuopFpZpC
— 53 strong (@Heat_Vikings) April 10, 2023
Kyler not playing this whole contract out in Arizona. https://t.co/vJibOeWZLZ
— Andre 3002 (@Blackkout__) April 10, 2023
We’ll have to see how the Cardinals handle this situation in the future because it’s becoming clear that Murray’s contract will either need to be restructured considerably or the team will have to move on from him before those cap hits start to kick in.
