In all likelihood, Kyler's playing time with Cardinals is over and no NFL team will try to trade for him in March
By Walter Mitchell
The Cardinals are moving on from Kyler Murray.
It's about his fit in the team's offense.
That is why they made such a strong push to sign Jacoby Brissett to a 2-year $12.5M contract with $8M guaranteed. Brissett not only played previously in Drew Petzing's offense, he had one of his best years running that system.
Brissett has been Plan B all along in the event that Kyler were to struggle or incur an injury.
At the time that Jacoby was signed, what was curious more than anything else was how generous the contract was, especially in light of the struggles he had with the Patriots in 2024.
But now we know why. Jacoby is a natural fit and has a strong command and capacity to run the offense on schedule.
Jacoby Brissett's Cap Hits:
2025 --- $5.3M
2026 --- $7.2M
Top 10 Cap Hits for Veteran Backup QBs 2022:
1. Kirk Cousins, ATL - $40M
2. Marcus Mariota, WAS - $8M
3. Tyrod Taylor, NYJ - $6.8M
4. Jacoby Brissett, ARI - $5.3M
5. Davis Mills, HOU - $4.1M
6. Jarrett Stidham, DEN - $4.0M
7. Mitch Trubisky, BUF - $3.3M
8. Andy Dalton, CAR - $3.2M
9. Jimmy Garoppolo, LAR - $3.1M
10. Jameis Winston, NYG - $3.0M
Note: Neither Mac Jones (SF) nor Joe Flacco (CIN) are in the top 10.
Kyler to the Injured Reserve:
Tomorrow morning Kyler Murray is being placed on injured reserve. That will mean, at the very least, he won't be able to open up his window to return until Week 14, that is if the team designated him to return.
However, the most convincing reason why Kyler playing time with the Cardinals is over is the $160M injury clause in his contract. The Cardinals simply cannot risk Kyler getting a more serious injury than his current Lisfranc (which typically requires 4-8 weeks of recovery).
Bruce Arians has suggested that the Cardinals could choose to bring Kyler back if and when Jacoby Brissett starts to struggle.
No. It's not going to happen. Not only do the Cardinals have to make sure that Kyler Murray does not suffer a serious injury at any time over the remainer of this season, but if they have any hopes for trading him, then that too means the Cardinals need a fully heathy Kyler Murray at the end of this season.
Now comes the reality --- no team is going to trade for Kyler Murray.
Here are the most conspicuous reasons why:
1. The contract --- 2026 Cap Hit: $53.3M which includes a $17M roster bonus
2. Injury history
3. Post October struggles. Ending the 2025 season on the IR would mean that in Kyler's seven seasons in Arizona, he did not finish one season strongly.
November: 4-10 --- December: 8-15 ---- January --- 2-3
4. Poise under pressure questions
5. Leadership questions
6. Ability to make the players around him better questions.
7. Coachability questions
8. The QB needy teams like the Jets are preparing to draft their own version of Drake Maye or even Bo Nix.
Now, there is no denying Kyler Murray's breathtaking talents. But there is also no denying Kyler Murray's difficulties.
Some coach on some team will want to see if he can turn Kyler into the Top 5 QB Cardinals' coaches and fans have been hoping he would be. But --- it will be on a "prove it" kind of deal.
That is, if Kyler is eager and willing to accept a prove it deal. It's possible that Kyler may decide to focus his attention on the gaming industry, where he is a star. Or it's still possible that Kyler would decide to pursue the baseball career he eschewed when he reneged on his deal with the then Oakland A's.
But wait, couldn't the Cardinals make a trade where they can agree to pick up some of Kyler's 2026 salary?
Unless a trade is agreed to during the legal tampering period, by the time the NFL officially opens the new year, if the Cardinals do not have a trade offer, then it wouldn't be wise to pay Kyler the $17M roster bonus given that the Cardinals may not get any trade offers after the draft.
The guaranteed money left on Kyler's contract beyond this season is $36.8M.
The team has Jacoby Brissett signed for 2026 with a cap hit of $7.2M.
It would seem inevitable that the Cardinals will try to draft or acquire (via trade or free agency) a potential QBOF.
Because Monti and JG inherited Kyler and have tried hard to make it work, Michael Bidwill will most likely give them the chance to see how they do with Jacoby Brissett and another QB of their own choosing. That's the thing with a Bidwill quid pro quo --- when he forces a scenario on employees and it doesn't work, if the scenario was virtually untenable from the start, then it behooves Bidwill to give them a fairer chance.
JG said recently on Burns and Gambo that he wasn't worried about his job because, "I landed in the Best possible scenario here."
FYI - Regarding Kliff Kingsbury's and Steve Keim's salaries
Peter Schrager said today on The Pat MacAfee Show that "the Cardinals are still paying Kliff Kingsbury's and Steve Keim's 5-year contract extensions.
But it's not nearly as bad as that sounds.
As for Kliff --- the Cardinals are now paying him $1.5M a year because Kliff is making $6M a year as the Commanders' OC --- $7.5M - $6M = $1.5M.
As for Steve Keim --- Michael Bidwill may have given him a severance package, but because Keim resigned, his contract was voided.
What do you believe?
Did any of you find it awfully curious that Gannon, when asked whether Kyler was still the starter, assured the media each week that "nothing has changed" --- yet the very second the trading deadline was over ---pretty much everything changed?
Did it ever make sense that for a player ailing from Lisfranc to be practicing and putting weight on the foot?
Was this yet another Bidwillean "Covert Ops" mission of pure intrigue and deception?
Please let us know what you think.
It feels like with the smoke and mirrors before the trade deadline that they were having conversations with someone. A trade didnt happen but we kept Kyler on ice. JBs performance gave us the luxury of a soft benching that was painted as an injury even if Kyler was on field week before during warm ups.He was practicing heading into MNF before decision to sit him happened. I was listening to Fox sports radio today. I think Kurt it was Kyle Odegard tweeted off season East coast team...hmmm
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of the $160M injury clause. That seals it. They will attempt a trade - no takers then I suppose Bidwill will choose the least expensive out from his bad contract. Let us just hope this puts all the Kyler talk behind us. The Kyler era has come to a close (at least with Cardinals).
ReplyDeleteThis also points to simple fact as to trusting anything that comes out of this organizations leadership. They deny and lie to deceive the public (even when its obvious). Example set by owner as to how to behave.
I believe you're correct on the Keim severance but settlement I think was over 5yrs.
Are we to expect another tank year? We won't know until seasons end. But I'd say there is a fairly likely chance. They have their scapegoat and a tough remaining schedule. Another Bidwill decision, were his yes-men go along to keep their jobs.
When I heard JG say "nothing has changed" I took that to be a clear sign he wasn't going to start Kyler. That was a really strange way to answer that question if the plan was to start Kyler. A normal answer would have been something like "yes" or "Kyler's starting." Nothing has changed can easily be taken to mean "next week's starter will be the same as this weeks." Generally, when people are being forthcoming, they don't use weird phrasing when answering direct questions.
ReplyDeleteThe conspiracy is that they didn't want to formally announce this until seeing if there was a trade market. The more positive interpretation is that JG didn't want to tell the public about the decision before he told Kyler.
Take a look at the Giants Daniel Jones scenario.
ReplyDeleteThe primary reason the Giants did not trade Daniel Jones and instead released him was to avoid the $23 million injury guarantee in his contract for the 2025 season. The Giants could not find a trade partner willing to take on Jones's contract, especially given his poor on-field performance and injury history in the 2024 season.
Sound familiar after reading Walt's spot on summary today?