Barring a Clayton Tune Clinic, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray will and should get a chance to shine under head coach Jonathan Gannon.
Expect the Arizona Cardinals to give quarterback Kyler Murray his chance to thrive in the desert, and I hope he will, despite the fact that I am admittedly a big fan of Clayton Tune. One reason is that it’s hard to find a quarterback with natural talent like Murray possesses, and another reason is that he’s being paid like a franchise quarterback.
That said, I’d ideally love to see Tune win the starting job out of camp, manage the game well enough to guide the Cardinals to at least a decent record until Murray is healthy enough to return, and let Kyler do the rest. But you can probably see the issue with that previous sentence.
What if the above scenario happened, and Tune had the Cardinals playing better than everyone expected? Well, that alone could spell the end of Kyler’s tenure in the desert. So let’s explore the issue more in-depth below, as one of three reasons why Murray could be done in the desert following 2023.
3 reasons the Arizona Cardinals could part ways with Murray after 2023
1 - Clayton Tune overachieves
We’ve seen this happen a few times over the last decade, but obviously, the Trey Lance-Brock Purdy situation and the Tony Romo-Dak Prescott situation remain entrenched in most football fans’ minds. The Arizona Cardinals are a 4-13 or 5-12 team on paper, but what if Tune wins the job in training camp, then has this team somewhere at 4-4 or better by the time Murray’s cleared?
In this case, you have a rookie quarterback playing well for what’s supposed to be a bad football team. Do you make the switch at this point? If you do, that could be a telltale sign of a quarterback controversy, and that’s something neither quarterback needs.
I covered this issue more in-depth a few days back, and in this case, I would go with Tune and shop Murray following the season in this situation if the finances are there, but more on that later. Now, do I foresee this occurring? Not at this point, but it’s still worth talking about.
2 - The front office wants their own guy
One big controversy surrounding each NFL roster with a new regime is that the front office may not want players their predecessors drafted and acquired. At least not anyone with over two seasons of NFL experience.
In another previous piece, our contributor, Jim Koch, talked about this. At this time, the Arizona Cardinals would never reveal, or even imply that this could be the case. But every new front office regime and coaching staff has a vision regarding what kind of players they want on the roster.
While Murray could fit that vision, and we have reason to believe he does, it could also be a smokescreen. At the end of the day, we have no idea what general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon are thinking, and since Murray is connected with the previous regime, he is, in that regard, a Keim guy.
3 - Murray returns, but plays poorly
We know Kyler Murray was bad last season in 2022. But following his ACL tear and subsequent rehab, we really don’t know if we’re going to get 2021 Kyler who led the Arizona Cardinals to the playoffs, or 2022 Kyler, who was pedestrian, at best.
Ideally, we see Murray return to the lineup, play like a former number one overall pick, and head into 2024 knowing he’s the starting quarterback capable of living up to his contract. But if he can’t pull off the same plays he used to, which included rollouts, throwing perfect passes off his back foot, and improvising with his legs, then there is no way he will stay beyond 2023.
Sure, his contract is a major obstacle, and looking at SpoTrac, that dead cap number looks alarming. Not that this would prevent the Cards from making a deal or releasing Murray following the season if any of the above scenarios occur, but it’s definitely something they must consider before making any move with a release or trade.