Cut, trade or keep?
Technically, all three options are on the table when it comes to Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
Realistically, there’s just one avenue at this point: an outright release.
And it’s exactly what Murray reportedly wants in his expected divorce from the franchise.
Given the back-and-forth that’s picked up this week, stoked by general manager Monti Ossenfort’s comments at the NFL Draft Combine, Murray suiting up for the Cardinals in 2026 seems even more dead and buried.
The optics from last year only solidified that thinking. Same with some of the offseason tells.
While Murray went to social media following Jonathan Gannon’s firing, expressing how much he “loved going to war” with the former Cardinals head coach, he’s been quiet regarding the Mike LaFleur hire. And if Murray really was in the equation for next year, there would have been much more than text messages sent between the two, as LaFleur has now referenced a couple of times since taking the job.
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Not being at Arizona’s groundbreaking ceremony for its new performance center and team headquarters is another example that this thing has run its course between the 2019 No. 1 overall pick and the franchise. Of the many engraved names on the shovels, Murray’s was nowhere to be found. The absence makes his comments on hoping to be in Arizona to see its completion stick out like a sore thumb.
At this rate, it would be more surprising if Murray remained on the roster than anything else.
Trading Murray is a close second in the surprise department.
It marks the best-case scenario for Arizona financially — even if it has to eat some of the dead money to facilitate a deal. Getting Murray off the books via a pre-June 1 designated trade against an outright release would mean $17.9 million in dead money compared to $54.7 million in dead money, according to OverTheCap.
It would also result in some sort of draft compensation. Any deal would likely mean a later-round pick, but hey, it would be better than nothing.
The biggest issues here, though, center around the Cardinals finding a team desperate enough to bite on a Murray trade and working around the quarterback’s reported preference to be released.
Murray’s bound to have some say in any trade, too. If he doesn’t like the prospects of another team, his camp is going to let it be known. Would an NFL GM want to sign up for a disgruntled QB before he even got to town? I don’t think so.
Not only was Murray sidelined in what was already a make-or-break year for the quarterback in his third season under Ossenfort and the previous coaching staff, he was outplayed by backup Jacoby Brissett. The offense, which had to make up for a nonexistent run game and inconsistent offensive line, opened up much more with Brissett running out of play action and under center.
The wins weren’t there for Brissett last year. He went 1-11 compared to Murray’s 2-3 mark, but the writing was on the wall that a permanent change was likely on the horizon.
For any team that might want to kick the tires on Murray, why waste draft capital and take on Murray’s current contract when you can potentially wait and negotiate a prove-it-type deal? Unless a GM has been living under a rock, most if not all have envisioned a split since Murray went down with a midfoot sprain in Week 5 and never returned.
Murray also gets much more of a say as a free agent. There’s bound to be more suitors, too, without the thought of having to facilitate a trade to bring him aboard.
That’s what makes a release the most logical and unceremonious end to the Murray era in Arizona.
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