The potential for the Cardinals retaining quarterback Kyler Murray for 2026 got here up three weeks ago, but his future within the desert stays iffy at best. The team is “prone to move on” from the 28-year-old, in accordance with Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Arizona is hoping to seek out a trade partner for Murray, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. He’ll “absolutely” be on the trade market, Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom hears.
The Cardinals haven’t modified their stance on Murray despite their recent head coaching change, one general manager told La Canfora.
“He’s still gone,” said the GM, who’s in search of a QB but doesn’t have interest in Murray.
Arizona fired the defensive-minded Jonathan Gannon and replaced him with Mike LaFleur, previously the Rams’ offensive coordinator. The Cardinals seem more prone to keep Jacoby Brissett after he began most of 2025 instead of an injured Murray.
“We hear they’re going with (Jacoby) Brissett and wish to get Kyler out of there,” a top personnel executive informed La Canfora.
It might behoove the Cardinals to eliminate Murray by March 15, the day $19.5 million of his 2027 base salary becomes guaranteed. He’s already guaranteed $36.8MM for next season. The Cardinals would surely should pay down a few of Murray’s contract in a deal, but finding a taker would profit their salary cap outlook.
Trading Murray before June 1 would save the team $34.74MM and result in a $17.92MM dead cap hit in 2026. A post-June 1 swap wouldn’t be as helpful, however the Cardinals would still unencumber $24.94MM while spreading $34.72MM in dead money over two years ($27.72MM in ’26, $7.2MM in ’27).
Releasing Murray would point to a far worse cap situation for Arizona. If done before March 15, the club would absorb a $54.72MM dead money charge and lose over $2MM in cap space in 2026. Cutting him between March 15 and June 1 would create an untenable $77.25MM in dead money and take away $24.59MM in cap room. The post-June 1 option wouldn’t be significantly better. The Cardinals would spread the $77.25MM over two years (including $70.05MM next season) while losing $17.39MM in space in 2026.
Although cutting Murray could be a worst-case scenario for the Cardinals, it might be a positive development for teams in need of a starting signal-caller. On a minimum salary, Murray could be an “incredibly attractive” option across the league, Rapoport says.
Now coming off his seventh NFL campaign, Murray’s stock has sharply declined since he signed a five-year, $230.5MM extension in July 2022. At that time, the previous Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick wasn’t far faraway from earning Offensive Rookie of the Yr honors in 2019. He went on to select up Pro Bowl nods in each of the subsequent two seasons.
In 2021, still Murray’s best season, the twin threat helped the Cardinals to 11 wins and a playoff berth. The Cardinals, who took a brutal 34-11 loss to the Rams within the wild-card round, haven’t returned to the playoffs and even finished above .500 in any season since. They’ve axed two head coaches (Gannon and Kliff Kingsbury, who had some success with Murray) during their four-year postseason drought.
Murray’s profession began trending downward in 2022, the primary season after he landed his mega-deal. He struggled over the primary two-plus months before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in Week 14. Murray’s recovery kept him out until the next November, limiting him to eight games.
To his credit, Murray rebounded to a noticeable degree in 2024. During his lone 17-game season so far, he accomplished 68.8% of passes for 3,851 yards (7.1 per attempt), 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, a 93.5 passer rating and a personal-high 63.4 QBR. As a runner, he scampered for 572 yards on a strong 7.3 per carry and located the tip zone five more times.
Within the wake of Murray’s bounce-back season, the arrow was finally pointing up for him and the Cardinals 12 months ago. With improved play from a healthy Murray, the Cardinals went 8-9 and recorded a plus-21 point differential. It was an encouraging step forward for a club that combined for a grisly 8-26 mark and a minus-234 point differential from 2022-23.
Neither Murray nor the Cardinals were in a position to construct on last 12 months’s progress in 2025. They finished an awful 3-14, and Murray missed 12 games with a foot injury. Murray’s time in Arizona may now be on the verge of ending, but even he’s unsure how things will play out, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN reports.
Within the seemingly improbable event Murray stays put (which ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler contends continues to be on the table), Brissett would emerge as a trade candidate, Fowler relays.
On a manageable $4.88 base salary in 2o26, Brissett might be of interest to several teams searching for either a stopgap starter or a capable backup. The Falcons and Jets are among the many clubs that would pursue Brissett, per Fowler.
As Fowler points out, Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski and Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich are aware of Brissett. He played for Stefanski in Cleveland in 2022 and under Reich (then the Colts’ HC) from 2018-20.