NFL Insider Tom Pelissero on Kyler Murray’s Uncertain Cardinals Future | The Rich Eisen Show

Jacobe Brousette is going to be starting for the Arizona Cardinals against the Rams this weekend and for the Arizona Cardinals for the rest of the season as Jonathan Ganon prior to you uh stepping into our Zoom room um stepped to the podium and said that the injury for Murray is quote unquote not progressing where it’s going to make sense that he can go and ruled him out for the rest of the season. Is he done in Arizona, Tom? I think it’s a fair question to ask. Certainly based on his cryptic comment about potentially not being around when the new facilities open up in two years that caused a lot of eyebrows to raise before he got hurt. What do you got for me on that front, Tom? Well, the Cardinals have a lot of things that they’ve got to figure out. They’ve lost, I believe, nine of their last 10 games. Um, you know, you’re in year three of the program. You’d like to think by this point, you’ve learned to win more than the Cardinals seem to have uh learned how to win. They’re they’re in every game. Um Jonathan Ganon and his staff, they’re all a bunch of young guys. Um they’re they’re bright coaches who all have big futures in this league. Um this has been a bumpy season for a lot of reasons. They’ve had a ton of injuries. Um and Kyler Murray, you know, quite frankly, was never their quarterback. Now, when Jonathan Ganon got there, he threw everything he had behind Kyler Murray and has been a big backer of him. And Drew Pson and the offensive staff, same thing. They also didn’t have a choice. Conor Murray’s contract, which of course at the time was a heavy focus of media members and fans because of the infamous homework clause that once that was revealed ended up getting stripped out. It’s also a remarkable document in terms of how long out the guarantees have flowed. He still has in 2026 almost $40 million fully guaranteed and another almost $20 million becomes fully guaranteed if Kyler is still on the roster as of March 15th. It would be unlike Arizona to simply say we’re going to eat $40 million cash and release him. Is it possible that they could pay it down prior to that additional $20 million vesting for somebody who wants Kyler Murray as a bridge quarterback? Would another team be willing to take on $60 million of guaranteed money for Kyler Murray? Those are some of the moving parts. All of which is a way of saying I think by any logical measure here, Rich, you’d say Kyler Murray is probably going to be someplace else in 2026. Again, it’s it would be assuming that things remain static there with Jonathan Ganon and Monty Austin for which I’m not assuming because again, there’s a lot of decisions that have to be made. But if they are, you’d like to think, all right, this is going to be the opportunity to go and get your quarterback. Maybe that’s Jacobe Brassette, who leads in every category, it seems like since he took over as a backup quarterback while, by the way, playing with a, you know, fourth and fifth string running backs. Marvin Harrison Jr. has been in and out of the lineup. They’ve had other injuries at wide receiver. I mean, there’s been a lot of different challenges uh that they’ve had here. Um, but the contract is going to be a piece of this just like it is with Tua Tonga Aloa in Miami. It’s kind of a similar uh type of a calculus here, which is all right, can we pay it down and trade him to somebody who needs a bridge quarterback? All right, but then if you pay it down for the bridge quarterback, now you’ve got to pay to get your own bridge quarterback in. Arizona has that answered hypothetically because Jacobe Brassett’s under contract for 2026. Um, but this is part of what’s going to be, I believe, Rich, a really, really busy and fascinating uh quarterback carousel as we get not even into March, but these things tend to start um, you know, rolling out as we get through January and towards Super Bowl week. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

NFL Insider Tom Pelissero and Rich Eisen discuss if Kyler Murray has played his last game for the Arizona Cardinals.

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29 comments

  2. Here is it simplified: They owe Kyler Murray $60 million if he's on the roster in March.
    Which means they would have to trade him or outright release him in the next 3 months to only pay him the guaranteed $40 million they owe him right now
    So… you'd have to pay him $40 million and release him so you don't have to pay him $60 million (WTF)

    They're kinda stuck with him for 2 years

  3. we've suffered thru 37 lackluster seasons here in az. save for a sparse handful. [hello neil lomax] murray is an undersized gadget scatback with a good arm. the coaching is vomitous ,,gannon can't adjust his brain to real time decisions, and gives offensive calls to amateur idiot petshxt ..
    there are a handful talented guys here on both sides of the ball. murrays cap hit =$55. million

  9. I lived in Phoenix from 95 to 2019 and this organization has been a cluster to the fans . They support this team with a lot of heart and money. I'm not a fan but these fans deserve better.

  15. I blame these companies. Arizona didn't really like him. If you not sure about the guy. Don't give him the money. Just like Miami. Tua always got hurt. Why give money. If they aren't sure about the guy.

  19. The Cardinals need creativity to trade Kyler. No team wants a 5-year midget professional who hasn't won a playoff game and has an unrealistic contract. No team.

    Here is my creative option. Offer the team owning next year's first pick (of the draft) to trade (a second or third-round pick) for someone on the Cardinals' practice squad. The condition for this trade would be the Cardinals' release of Murray, which would force us to pay off his guaranteed contract ($40 mil). That means Murray must sign with whichever team picked him up for league minimum. The worst team has the first option, and they still keep their first pick. That team could get Murray for nothing because the Cardinals were forced to pay his guaranteed money, and it only cost them a 3rd-round pick.

    Murray would get his guaranteed money and the option to play for a team that wanted him. Murray only has to play one year for the new team. Murray could revise his career. It only cost the Cardinals the guaranteed money, which they would lose anyway. This way, we get something. Win for the new team, win for Murray, and win for the Cardinals.

    The Cardinals could make the same offer to every team in the NFL. The only stipulation is that the trade couldn't happen until the new team is "up next" in the draft order.

  25. I may be in the minority here but the Cardinals are wild if they want to move on from Kyler with no plan in place to revamp the QB and the offensive line..

    It’s not hard to figure why Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer are the few guys to find success.. the organization makes poor decisions and puts more money toward aesthetics than a winner..

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