Over the last year, the Arizona Cardinals have been rumored to be potentially open to trading quarterback Kyler Murray in the future. Murray’s name was once again heavily in the rumor mill this offseason for quarterback-needy teams. However, no deal was done and no real reports of discussions surfaced.
Murray is coming off of a brutal torn ACL and has also received quite a few shady comments from the media. Many have attacked him for inconsistency and also as a leader.
Despite that fact, the Cardinals seem ready to run it back for at least one more season with Murray leading the way.
One former NFL league executive spoke to NFL Analysis Network about Kyler Murray’s future with the Cardinals. He seems to think that the trade speculation is just that, speculation.
“Everything I’ve heard is that Kyler Murray is still the franchise quarterback for Arizona. They love him, despite the narratives that the media tries to put out there. I don’t see him getting traded anytime soon, and I expect a huge bounce-back season for him this year.”
Last season in the 11 games he played before going down with the injury, Murray completed 66.4 percent of his pass attempts for 2,368 yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He also racked up 418 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Those numbers show that Murray is still more than capable of making a huge impact. He has always been a playmaker and that hasn’t gone away. Assuming he’s able to fully recover from his ACL injury, the Cardinals have a legitimate star quarterback on their roster that they should not move.
At just 26 years of age, Murray is just getting into the true prime of his career. The injury is a disappointing setback, but his critics need to pump the brakes. Murray has already shown enough on the field to put those criticisms to sleep.
Arizona simply needs to put a more competitive roster around Murray. If they can do that under new management and with a new coaching staff, the Cardinals could turn things around quickly.
Expect to see Murray come back this season looking to prove a point with a chip on his shoulder. The Cardinals are just fine at quarterback and shouldn’t even consider the idea of giving up on their star quarterback just yet.
