Kyler Murray has gotten the Arizona Cardinals into a dangerous game.
Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who forget history are destined to repeat it.”
The Arizona Cardinals, Steve Keim, and Michael Bidwill have seemed to have forgotten that the Cardinals’ history is littered with botched contract negotiations- resulting in players leaving and almost always having runaway success with other teams.
With Derek Carr’s latest extension averaging $40M per year, the Cardinals are playing the most dangerous game in the franchise’s history.
By waiting on Murray‘s extension, the market was raised by Carr. Carr has been in the league for a while now, and he still doesn’t have a playoff win- and he got that massive extension.
Murray now has the high ground in negotiations, and if the Cardinals low-ball him, he’ll point right back to Mr.Carr.
Arizona Cardinals must decide to extend or trade Kyler Murray
At this point, it doesn’t matter what happens with Murray from my viewpoint. The coach and the general manager are here for another five years, putting a wet blanket on everything.
If Murray is traded, that will place a seismic hole at the quarterback position.
But as long as that replacement could lead the team and not disappear when his team needs him the most, that would be fine.
On the other hand, if Murray does get extended/kept by the organization, they should work through the fifth-year option first. So yes, that’s guaranteeing his contract for the next two years.
The deadline for that is May 2nd, and the Cardinals should call Murray’s bluff. The fifth-year option is a win-win for both squads. Arizona doesn’t lose 100+ million dollars if Murray plays terribly or misses expectations. And should Murray perform well? He’s going to get the significant extension he wants.
It’s not like Murray takes a lot of hits; the guy falls down if he’s being pursued and said last year that he wanted his legs to be a luxury. Little did Murray know that in doing so that he crippled the Cardinals’ offense by taking such a dynamic aspect away from Kliff Kingsbury.
It all comes back to the original demands that Murray and his agent, Erik Burkhardt, made: “Love me or die.”
What will the Cardinals choose?