Kyler Murray Reportedly Frustrated With Cardinals, Feels He’s Being Framed As ‘Scapegoat’

Update:

The Arizona Cardinals issued the following statement via Pro Football Talk regarding the earlier report from ESPN describing acrimony between the team and QB Kyler Murray: 

“Nothing has changed regarding our opinion and high regard for Kyler Murray. We as a team and Kyler individually have improved each year he’s been in the league. We are excited to continue that improvement in 2022 and are excited that Kyler Murray is the quarterback leading us.”

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ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the “odd vibe” between the Cardinals and QB Kyler Murray has been described to him as Murray being “self-centered, immature and [a] finger pointer.”

Murray is reportedly frustrated with the Cardinals and embarrassed by the team’s playoff loss to the Rams. Beyond that, Mortensen says Murray thinks he’s been framed as the scapegoat for Arizona. 

Mortensen adds that despite the acrimony, the Cardinals expect things to calm down and for Murray to be their quarterback. 

Veteran players hope to reach out to Murray on how he can handle adversity better and Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury also is self-scouting where he can provide better alternatives for Murray. 

Murray removed any mention of the Cardinals from his social media accounts last week, which caused a lot of speculation about his potential unhappiness in Arizona. 

Murray, 24, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Cardinals after making the decision 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 contract has a fifth-year option for the Cardinals to pick up in 2022.

In 2021, Murray appeared in 14 games for the Cardinals and completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 3,787 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 423 yards and five touchdowns.

We’ll have more regarding Murray and the Cardinals as the news is available.