Will the Arizona Cardinals Draft Kyler Murray’s Successor in 2026? Draft Analyst Reveals Chances

Will the Arizona Cardinals Draft Kyler Murray’s Successor in 2026? Draft Analyst Reveals Chances

who should be Kyler Murray’s successor as it looks like it’s an inevitable divorce between him and the Arizona Cardinals. We go to an expert all things NFL draft and also broke down what a Cardinals ideal offseason would look like. Our guy Tampa Bay Trey, it’s Trevor Sigma, PFF the NFL stock exchange. And Trev, how we doing, my man? I’m doing fantastic guys. Uh appreciate you having me on the show. I wish it was under better circumstances. I really do obviously with how the Cardinal season is going, but it’s always good to link up with you guys and talk low ball. So, I appreciate you having me back. Your breakdown on how to fix the Arizona Cardinals went viral here locally and a lot of positive feedback because Trevor, a lot of Cardinal fans just want to take a sledgehammer to this. And let’s start with the writing on the wall and let’s start with Kyler Murray because, you know, Ganon came out yesterday and the window to open him up officially started yesterday, but they’re not going to do it. as my co-host, you know, reported, it’s just it’s not going to happen. Like they’re they’re they’re slow playing this for a reason. They don’t want him to get injured. They’re waiting till this off season can hit so they can shop him officially to other teams. Let’s start with this. What do you feel like is the best landing spot for Kyler Murray given his age and his contract? Wow. Yeah. So, Kyler’s entire situation is very interesting, right? Because it’s a it’s it’s a very highpaying contract. He will be, as of next year, I believe the 11th highest paid player in the NFL, unless there’s some contracts that I’m not thinking of that would have overtaken him. He’s at least in the top 12, right? He’s in that range of the guys who are paid the most in the NFL. And and very clearly the Cardinals would need a player like that to be quarterback and they don’t believe in him. And so, you think to yourself, well, the best case scenario for the Cardinals is to trade him. But does somebody believe that the price would be right in that regard? like are we getting a little bit of a like a Brock Osweiler type of a trade where like hey if you take Kyler off of our books with a trade we might give you they’re not going to give him like a super high pick or anything but like we might give you a little bit of draft capital we might be able to do that if if we’re not only giving you a potential franchise quarterback they still believe in him which I think that they would at that point we’ll also give you some draft capital I I truly don’t know what the most likely scenario is between that which I think the Cardinals would prefer to trade him or the rest of the teams in the NFL going kind of calling their bluff and saying you’re going to cut him. So, it doesn’t it does not matter. You’re going to cut him. You’re going to get rid of him in any way, shape, or form. He’s not going to be on the roster for you next year. And I think you guys would know this confirm this better than I do, but I believe it’s like 5 days after the new league year is when the money guarantees for not just 2026, but then 2027. So, he has to be off of their roster before that fifth day in the new league year. So, there’s a little bit of a time crunch here to figure it out once we start to get into the offseason. But, you know, you think about landing spots like with the Raiders take a swing on them, right? Depending on what happens with Pete Carol and and Gino Smith, like that’s a potential landing spot there. Obviously, with how things have gone in Minnesota, like do they get super aggressive? They believe that Kyler Murray could actually be that answer for them in Minnesota because it feels like even if maybe they’re not totally giving up on JJ McCarthy, you can’t go into next season with just him. It’s got to be somebody else alongside him. So maybe a solution like Kyler would make you think that you don’t even need JJ McCarthy at that point. So I mean those are two that come to mind. Pittsburgh, of course. I I have no idea what’s going to happen in Pittsburgh, but clearly they need a quarterback of the future there. not working now with the it just feels like band-aid plans that they’ve had at quarterback for basically just since Rothosberger was there. And now I think all that is coming to a head where they’re going to have to have some serious conversations about really being a team that needs to make a major change and if they don’t want to draft one, if they don’t think that they could draft one, well then all of a sudden Kyler comes into play with a team like that. But those are a handful. I mean Atlanta’s the only other one that as I’m kind of like thinking of of it out loud here. Yeah, I like that fit a lot. They’ll probably move. They’re they’re probably just going to post June one cut Kirk Cousins because remember you could designate two of your cuts to be post June one cuts. And if they do that, yes, they have to pay him more money up front, but Arthur Blank’s got it. He’s not worried about that. It means that the cap hit is less for Kirk Cousins to no longer be on the team. Are you really going to go into next year with Penn and his knee injury at that point? like maybe you get spicy and you say to yourself, “All right, Arizona, we’ll give you pennix for Kyler Murray.” And I’m not saying like that would be the only component to the deal, draft pick, something like that would probably, you know, even out one way or the other, but that’s sort of the spicy landing spot of you might be able to get a quarterback back that you could say, “Hey, let’s give Pennix 2026, see what we got.” And then if not the 2027 NFL draft, the quarterback class looks much more robust in theory depending on who doesn’t and does declare for this 2026 group, which it looks like it’s not going to be a ton of these guys. So that’s a scenario that is that I think peaks the interest of a lot of people to potentially move on via a trade. Yeah. A little bit more palatable, right? I mean, I think that the fan base would take that something in return instead of having to go to the route of dehop a couple seasons ago where like you outlined, you know, they telegraphed that thing and the rest of the league said, “Wait, we’ll just wait till you release him.” That seems like the worst of all realities for the Cardinals. The biggest kind of I guess scare tactic for Cardinals or fear uh is that, you know, Kyler Murray goes and finds success. But regardless of how he exits the organization, what’s you know the successor to Kyler Murray in your opinion, what what’s their best path to find, you know, steady quarterback play in 2026 and beyond? Yeah, it’s it’s it’s tricky, right? because when we when we did the fixing the Cardinals episode, um I I actually haven’t heard y’all’s thoughts on on Monty Austin for it, so I’m not sure um if you would agree with this or not, but when I look at Monty over the last two, three years of him of him being in Arizona, I think that some people are lumping them together just because of the struggles of the organization and I think that they say like, “Let’s just clean house. We want to totally clean house. Let’s get rid of Ganon. Let’s get rid of Austin for it.” And I look at what Austin Ford’s done and I go, “Well, hold on here. Has everything been perfect?” No. But you look at the team that he inherited and the team that he has now, it’s way more talented top to bottom. That’s not to say there’s not holes on the roster. But you got talented guys in the building and you give him one more off seasonason with a full draft class, I think the offensive line starts to look a lot better. At least has a much higher talent ceiling. Maybe you get somebody at inside linebacker depending on what you think it like cornerback you could be adding there. But it’s like I I think that this becomes a pretty damn good team on paper this upcoming off season. The question then becomes, sure, Fernando Mendoza, Dante Moore, maybe Tai Simpson in the draft, those guys could be alluring, but are they going to hit the ground running for you the way that the rest of this roster is kind of in a winning window right now? And there were a lot of people that were potentially picking the Arizona Cardinals to make the playoffs. And the reason why is because of how talented it feels like that roster is with some of the rookie classes that they’ve had, some of the free agents that they’ve been able to have. And so that then in my opinion will become the biggest discussion point of the off season is you can go after different quarterbacks. Like again, there’s some that might become available like you might be able to go get Jameus Winston, Davis Mills, Jimmy Garopppolo, like guys like like lower tiered guys like that. Maybe a trade for M. Jones, right? like some somebody in that regard. Maybe you’re entertaining, okay, a trade with Minnesota or a trade with uh with the Atlanta Falcons where you’re getting their rookie back in return. Maybe you feel better about that route because if not, then it just it sets up an interesting pathway between where the current roster is and where your quarterback situation might be. In reality, you you would want Kyler Murray to be good. like that’s that’s what you would actually want here because the rest of the roster is there for it. But in my opinion, I I think that as long as you have the right guy at offensive coordinator, which I know it hasn’t looked good for Drew Ping. I don’t know if he’s going to be here next year. Kind of doesn’t feel like it with how much they’ve really struggled. But if you get the right guy at offensive coordinator and you get a quarterback who you even feel good about, maybe not a franchise caliber ceiling like Kyler Murray, but again, maybe you’re trading for Jameus Winston, trading for Davis Mills, M. Jones, or whatever. you might be able to compete. I know the division’s really tough, but the rest of the roster feels like it’s close, especially if you have an off seasonason where you feel like you can invest a lot of draft capital specifically into offensive line, getting a lot more talented there and feeling a lot better about that. So, just to go back to answering your question, I think a veteran fits this team best for where they currently are. I I I just don’t know if if they’re going to have the right one to take them to the playoffs in this division the way that the rest of the roster might want to, which then of course then brings up, all right, well then you’re hoping you’re drafting one of these talented guys in the first round. Before we touch on those three players, because I think Bo and I like all three uh in different variations, I think that’s the outline that you gave I think is the most likely based on the fact that like the fan base wants Jonathan Ganon to no longer coach this team and regardless of Bow and I’s opinion like we have at source like he he will be back. They’re going to give him another year. Uh we feel pretty confident Drew Petting’s not going to return. He’s going to have a new offensive coordinator. I mean, like lining up in a reality in which, hey, we have to go and win nine or 10 games next year with Jonathan Ganon in this roster that’s ready to win. That’s why this Kyler Murray thing is so befuddling because it’s like, yeah, I mean, like Kyler Murray is going to easily be the best quarterback available this off season, right? You’re giving him away. So, so the fan base is just coming from a perspective like, well, then just fire everybody and then take a rookie quarterback and then slow play their development. They’re they’re kind of doing this out of order. Yeah. And and that I think is sometimes an issue with a lot of these organizations is is they are a little out of order, right? The quarterbacks like the Vikings are a perfect example, right? Rest of the team is there now. They’ve had some injuries that have been really tough for them, but like for the most part, this team won 14 games last season, right? The rest of the ro and they only got better with the guys that they added in the offseason. They are ready to win right now. We saw that in 2024. the quarterback’s not. And as we can see, like that’s sometimes the only thing that matters. And so, we’ll talk about the quarterbacks here in a second. I think those guys could be good for you, but are they good enough? Like, are are they really what you want them to be? And can they figure it out in year one, year two to make sure that it’s worth it? That’s why to be honest when we were talking about it earlier the Penn trade is probably the most alluring one depending on what his knee looks like with rehab and the honest timeline with him because look I mean if he’s going to miss all of September and and and maybe into October that then probably doesn’t work out for you but if you could tell me he’s on the practice field some point in training camp and he’s getting some preseason reps then I think you feel good about like you said you’re giving away the most talented quarterback that’s going to be available this off season. So you feel a little bit better about saying okay we’re going to move on from him but at least we get a guy back who has started in the league this year with Penn and yeah it’s been a little disappointing but he’s young. you feel better about him next year, swing of the bat. And if it doesn’t work, like we said, then you’re probably cleaning house in other ways anyways, and you’re probably going all in for a quarterback in 2027 because that 2027 class looks a little bit more loaded. As the draft standings stand in, the Arizona Cardinals, not a whole lot of predictable wins left on the schedule. Cardinals eighth. You got the Jets seventh, Commanders sixth, Browns, Raiders, Giants, Saints, Titans. as we do kind of the calculus here. Three quarterbacks, I mean, are they even within striking distance? Is it is it going to be kind of similar to where we’re just going to see those quarterbacks go off the board and you’re just going to be kind of have left waiting and going to have to take maybe the best position player available? So, I don’t think so because of how interesting it is with who’s picking at the very top. Titans, they’re not going to pick a quarterback. The Giants, they’re not going to pick a quarterback. the Saints maybe, but like Tyler Shucks looked okay and it’s pretty much going to be the same regime going into 2026 that drafted him in the second round. So, if it was a new regime, I’d tell you the Saints could very well entertain a quarterback when they’re picking that high. But, to be honest with you, they got holes so so vast around the rest of the roster, they might not even take one. And those are the those are the three teams that are picking at the very top. Now, the ones right behind them, you got the Raiders. depending on what route they go. I I think they’re going to be very interested in a quarterback. Obviously, the Browns, again, I I I don’t know what’s I don’t think they’re going to feel good enough about either of the two guys they have in Shador and Gabriel to to not entertain the quarterback spot, but we will see with that one. Then you got like the Commanders and the Jets. The Jets absolutely need one. So, they’re going to be in the conversation, but Jets have won three out of the last five and the team doesn’t look too bad. So, you might jump the Jets from the win total anyways in the draft order. And then when it comes to um the Commanders, they’re going to get Jaden Daniels back. I think they’re going to be more competitive. They’re going to win a handful of games down the stretch as well. So, I think the Cardinals are probably going to pass them, too. When it comes to these quarterbacks, one, it depends who’s in the class, right? I don’t think there’s any guarantee that the three top quarterbacks and Ty Simpson from Alabama, Dante Moore from Oregon, and Fernando Mendoza from Indiana, I don’t know if all three of them are going to be in the class, but because of who’s picking at the top right now, I don’t Titans are going to win one more game at max this season. So, I think they’re going to pick number one in this draft. I think the Giants are not a good football team either. So, I think they’re picking two or three when it’s all said and done. Both of those teams, you can you can trade up with both of them. you could get up to number one if you’ve and especially if you’re the Cardinals who I think are probably going to finish somewhere around five. These teams aren’t dra they’re not dropping too far. You’ve got the ability to go up and get a quarterback. Now, of course, the quarterback price is typically a lot and depending on the scarcity of the class, you know, we we’ll see what the price tag ends up being. But to answer your question at the beginning, no, I don’t think the Cardinals are going to be in a situation where we get to the end of uh round one of the draft or end of the offseason, whatever it is, and you shrug your shoulders and you go, we never had a chance. They will have a chance to draft a quarterback, whether it’s at their original spot or to potentially trade up for one. I fully believe that. Yeah, I 100% agree. I mean, the the Cardinals have one winnable game left on their schedule home against Atlanta. Uh I I think I think it’s very realistic they could lose out given the just the the level of play or lack thereof. They play the Rams twice. They play at Cincy and of course they’re they’re playing against Houston. So I I think at most four three and 14 probably guarantees you a top five pick. I want I want to talk about these quarterbacks real quick because I’m a big Fernando Mendoza guy. I think he’s been the best quarterback in college football this year. I would take him first overall. But like there’s this push back right now going on with Dante Moore signaling like he might not declare. Well, this is his third year of college football. He’s set up for, I think, a prolong run in the college football playoff. Why on earth would he stay, Trevor? So, he would stay because it’s only his first year as a full-time starter, and he is still young. He’s just a true junior. Yes, it’s his third third year in college football, but uh he was at UCLA to start. He backed up uh uh Dylan Gabriel last year, and so this year is his first year as a full-time starter. So if he wants more time in college football, which some guys do, I think that there at the beginning of the season, there was reason to believe that he would be coming back to school. Now, I think that’s much less likely. One, because of his success. Two, because the rest of the quarterback class doesn’t look very good, and it feels like he’s going to be a top five lock. Three, his offensive coordinators leaving to go be the head coach of Kentucky, which I think matters in all of this as well. And you know, four, it’s just Oregon’s gonna have the opportunity to there’s gonna be some talented quarterbacks that also hit the portal. So, of course, they would take Dante Moore back if he wanted to come back. But at that point, like there’s other quarterbacks that are that are in the portal. For example, JKS, who is a very talented true freshman quarterback at Cal this past year. Uh Cal just fired their head coach. He’s going to be going somewhere else. He was previously committed to Oregon before he committed to Cal. all the stars sort of align for him to potentially be in the portal now with his head coach gone. And where is he going to look first? Well, he’s going to look at Oregon, especially if Dante Moore isn’t there. So, I think all of those things go into it. He’s having a he’s having a really, really good year. You mentioned Oregon’s going to be able to play in some big games coming up in the college football playoff. He’ll get a taste of that. And with his offensive coordinator, Will Stein, now going over to Kentucky to be their head coach, I I just feel as though that really opens the door for him to potentially be in this class. man, just kind of punting on 45 million guaranteed that he would get. I mean, it’s it’s curious. I’m curious just as far as your evaluation so far of this class, are there going to be the position players that make the case that you you can’t pass on them? Does that demand issue present itself? And then how many first round grades do you have uh for quarterbacks? So, the first part of the question, there are there are going to be really alluring players at the top. I think Arville Ree, the uh linebacker, you know, he plays off ball linebacker, but he also plays as an onball edge. I think his his home and his biggest impact in the NFL is going to be at edge. I think that the conversation with him is going to be very similar to what we have with Jaylen Walker from Georgia, although I think that Arvel Ree from Ohio State is the better version of that. I would take Arll Reese over Jaylen Walker. And Jaylen Walker went eighth overall, I believe, last year uh to the Atlanta Falcons. So, we’re going to talk about him potentially at number one overall. We’re talk about Ruben Bane Jr. from Miami as well. A 270lb defensive lineman who moves like a guy who’s 30 lbs explodes like a guy who’s 30 pounds less than him, but he’s got that strength of somebody with more weight. He could play basically everywhere on the defensive line outside of nose tackle. And I think that he could win in a variety of different ways. You got skilled position players, guys like Jordan Tyson, Jeremiah Love. They’re going to be alluring within that top 10. And so I think that those are the players that you think about with one of those top picks. We know that ed quarterbacks, edge rushers, and offensive tackles are pretty much the only positions that are going to go number one overall ever. Um, and there are a couple of guys that you think about, but I don’t think we’re going to think about those players as, oh my gosh, you have to take this player over trading down. So, I think that again that that just puts the situation to be very right for Arizona to be able to move up if that’s what they wanted to do. And then when it comes to first round grades on these quarterbacks, I don’t know if I’m going to have a fir like a firm first round grade on any of them. Now, Fernando Mendoza, I think we could have like that late first, early second round grade that I would give. Dante Moore feels like he’s in that category as well. Ty Simpson, who I liked what I saw early on. He sort of struggled a little bit down the stretch here. Although I still love the potential of him. If he were to declare, I’d probably end up having somewhere like a second round grade on him as a quarterback. Now, that’s who these guys are in their current state. And when I think about their overall talent ceiling, that’s not to say that they can’t get better. That’s not to say that they can’t outplay the draft grades that I would have of them pre-draft. I think that Mendoza gives you that NFL level arm talent. Man, those opposite hash to sideline out out route throws. I mean, he’s hitting those the way that very few quarterbacks in college football ever show you. He’s got the true talent, arm talent in my opinion. He’s still, you know, coming along as a decision maker, but he is so much better this year than he was last year. So, you’re very encouraged with that for more. The accuracy, man, the touch, it’s just beautiful with where he can pinpoint place the football. Now, I don’t think he’s got the best arm talent in the world. I don’t think it’s like a tier one arm for the NFL, but certainly, you know, in Arizona, you get to play in a dome for half of the games that you play in obviously, and it’s not like he’s playing in Soldier Field and he’s got to rip it through the elements four, or five times a year. So, I think that that landing spot would uh would be good for him, but it’s just that accuracy that he has in those touch passes that are so impressive. And then, like I said, Simpson is somebody who I have liked. I think he’s got the arm talent for the NFL, but um he’s just been a little inconsistent, inconsistent with the accuracies and specifically when he’s playing under pressure that I actually think he’s the one of any of these three that would go back to school next year. I think it’s much more likely that more mendozer in this class. Let’s talk about assuming those three declare, is there a fourth guy that could enter the fold? Um you know, we talked about preseason like maybe Sam Levit. That obviously is not the case now. He’s a lot to return to school at potentially a different university. I’m a big fan of Jaden from from USC, uh, who’s looked really good down the stretch here. Are there any names that we should be watching that could creep up and could be this year’s kind of Jackson Dart late first round? Yeah. Um, I like Mava. I think at this point, Jaden Mayava from USC, I think that at this point he’d probably could be considered a day two quarterback if he were to declare, but he’s another guy who throws a really nice layered ball in between like linebackers and and safeties and corners and safeties. He knows that timing. He’s got that touch. He’s got a pretty good arm to him. He’s not super mobile and and mobility is not going to be a big part of his game, but really nice pocket passer that we have seen this past year in the Big 10, which feels very weird to say for USC that they’re in the Big 10. Um the the the real answer though is is Lenora Sellers from South Carolina. Like if Sellers is in this class, um all bets are off, if you will. I I have no idea because physically the physical gifts that he has, it’s Anthony Richardson like and Richardson went sixth overall despite how raw he was and how inexperienced he was as a passer coming out of Florida. I’m a Florida Gator. I watch every single Florida game and I remember watching Richardson. I was like six overalls, Rich. But obviously you’re you’re you’re swinging on the the talent ceiling. So with how I feel like it’s been a really tough year for South Carolina, Sellers hasn’t really grown in the pocket. He hasn’t really grown in how he manages pressure. And to be honest with you, his offensive line’s been so bad this year, it’s hard to even think that he would have the ability to get better. But if you’re drafting him next year, you’re going to be drafting a quarterback that still needs development. Somebody that still needs to understand pocket management and timing and touch and decision-making and not taking as many sacks and all of that kinds of stuff. So, he is sort of the biggest wild card because he’s probably the most talented quarterback of anyone who’s going to be in this class if he is in that class. So, I think my answer to who would be a fourth would be Lenora Cellers if he’s there. Always a great chat. so generous with this time. We always take this much. We could talk to you forever. Uh but we we can’t we can’t do that because you’re so busy and uh you’re just ramping up so much uh going on with you, Trevor. I mean BFF, you got the mockdraft simulator, the stock exchange, you guys are turning out episodes. What else you got going on? Yeah, man. PFF. I mean, we we are we are ramping up the mockdraft simulator stuff. So, anybody out there, if you have a PFF plus subscription, you can go to pff.commock and you can run as many mock drafts as you want for the Cardinals. one round, two round, three rounds, all the way up to seven rounds. You can run as many as you want. We’ve got almost 500 prospects in there right now. Uh we’re going to have over 500 and and most of them, I’m hoping, are going to have scouting reports here in the next couple of months that you guys can read as you try to uh make the Cardinals a better team. And so, we appreciate you guys using that and obviously pumping that up. And then, of course, uh all the draft coverage over at the NFL Stock Exchange podcast with myself, Connor Rogers. Trav, you’re the best. Thank you, my guy. Hope to talk to you soon. Yeah, thanks guys. Anytime.