The Oakland Raiders’ interest in Kyler Murray only helps the Arizona Cardinals.
Throw everything you know about Kyler Murray out; we don’t know anything. Whether the Murray to the Arizona Cardinals hype is a smoke screen, real, or some other tactic, we really don’t know what will happen.
But, we do know one thing; the Raiders recent interest in the Oklahoma quarterback is only good for the Arizona Cardinals, no matter the situation.
According to Gil Brandt of NFL Media, the Raiders recently completed their workout and a private meeting with Murray, and both Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock were in attendance. So how does this help the Cardinals?
If the Cardinals interest in Murray is a smoke-screen to get a big haul, the Raiders just helped them in the best way.
The Raiders interest benefits the Cardinals because it shows that another team (the other being the Cardinals) with a top-five pick has shown interest in Murray. That interest, in turn, makes the Cardinals No. 1 overall pick just that much more valuable as realistically any team including the Raiders can trade up to the coveted pick to draft the shot-caller. Essentially, it just fuels the fire that builds a smoke-screen.
Even if the Murray to Arizona hype train is real, this doesn’t move the needle for the Cardinals as they have the pick of the litter.
If the Raiders fall in love with Murray it could also mean that they trade a haul to get the top pick as there is room for another team to trade up to the first three selections in order to nab him. Simply put, another quarterback-needy team showing interest in a top quarterback only helps the Arizona Cardinals in the long-run.