Did previous bad business decisions force Cardinals to sign Kyler Murray?

My wife and I, are the very definition of opposites attract. For example, I love sports, she thinks the players are a bunch of overpaid cry babies, she has a roomy SUV to take all the family and friends in while I finally have a muscle car that I can take one family member or friend for a great ride in. Our relationship reminds me of the relationship between the Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray.

But, now that my wife and I are older, have raised our child, and she is out of the house, we now know another way we are very different. When we go on vacations and getaways I not only plan what we are doing, but I actually have a written time schedule.

What time we wake up, when we arrive at our destination, where we will eat our meals, what gas station we will fill up at and the whole 9 yards. Her idea of a good vacation is we sleep until whenever, we simply get in the car and drive, until we see something that interests us, and that is what we do. No planning, no research, just see where the day takes us.

My need to plan everything down to the minute makes her nuts and her lack of any plan, place, or idea makes me crazy.

Now that you know this, I think previous bad decisions and poor planning from the Arizona Cardinals almost forced them to have to sign Kyler Murray to an enormous contract that literally banks on hope and potential instead of talent and wins. While Kyler Murray’s representation has been seemingly formulating a plan from his first NFL snap.

Murray is being paid like he is the 2nd best quarterback in the league in 2 major areas of his contract; average annual value and  guaranteed money. He is number 2 to Deshaun Watson in guaranteed money, and number 2 in average annual value to some guy named Aaron Rodgers.

Then, as if that is not jaw-dropping enough Murray, and his agent, were also able to ensure that he receives a total contract of $230.5M when Watson just received the highest at $230MM.

Therefore, his contract says he is the best quarterback in the league as far as total contract dollars. Ben Solak of the Ringer said it best in a recent column, “Murray’s deal behaves just like most quarterback extensions behave: by being just a little bit richer than the quarterback extension most recently signed.”

But, when those quarterbacks signed those deals, they had at least won a play-off game. If he is paid like Allen, Prescott, Mahomes and Rodgers he has to produce like them BEFORE he gets paid like them.

You pay superstars for wins, not for the potential of wins.