Cardinals Committed To Building Around Kyler Murray

The Cardinals finished last season with an 8-9 record in Kyler Murray‘s return to the starting lineup after missing most of 2023. When speaking to Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta, owner Michael Bidwill said there is no question about Murray as their starter and plans to continue building around him going forward. 

“What he is is a dual threat quarterback. When he’s healthy he scares every defensive coordinator and he has a chance to change the game with his feet and with his arm,” Bidwill said, via ArizonaSports.com. “When you look at it, we’ve got to continue to rely on him and he’s got to play at a high level. He knows that. He’s working hard. … He needs to take the next step and we’re excited about our future with Kyler. He’s a great quarterback. I think we need to continue to build around that offense for him.”

Arizona suffered five losses last season by less than one possession. GM Monti Ossenfort said they aren’t blaming Murray for those defeats but admits he needs to do a better job of limiting turnovers.   

“It’s the same thing with our whole team. We have to finish,” Ossenfort said. “There were those tight games. Was it only Kyler? No, there were other things that the rest of the team could do. Does Kyler have to play better? Absolutely he does. When Kyler was (not turning the ball over and generating explosives), he was rolling. … And then when those games get tight and we turn the ball over and Kyler’s involved in some of those, that’s where it’s going to be tough to win and it’s going to be tough to win late in the season when the window of opportunity just shrinks. That’s a hump we have to get over. Kyler has to improve on that. The whole team has to improve on that. We have to raise our level of consistency.”

Murray, 27, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Cardinals after deciding to pursue an NFL career, despite being drafted in the first round by the Oakland A’s in 2018. 

Murray signed a four-year, $35,158,644 deal that included a $23,589,924 signing bonus. The Cardinals officially exercised his fifth-year option which was worth $29.7 million for the 2023 season. 

Murray signed a five-year, $230.5 million extension that includes $160 million guaranteed with Arizona in 2022.

 In 2024, Murray appeared in all 17 games for the Cardinals and completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 3,851 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, to go along with 78 rushing attempts for 572 yards (7.3 YPC) and five touchdowns.