March 1, 2026, 9:07 a.m. ET
It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Kyler Murray could end up being the Atlanta Falcons‘ starting quarterback for 2026 while Michael Penix Jr. heals from an ACL tear.
Murray will be on the move, and where that may be could surprise some. Some signs are pointing to the Atlanta Falcons being the best fit for him, whether that be on a one-year league minimum deal or not. The team is still on the fence about whether or not Michael Penix Jr. is the team’s franchise QB of the future.
A few teams have a height limit for their quarterbacks, and Murray would be well below the threshold on several teams, but he still has the playmaking ability to make things happen, as long as we stop comparing him to other small quarterbacks like Drew Brees and expecting the same results.
The Arizona Cardinals would be eating a lot of Murray’s contract, so, with limited cap space to play with, the move may be the right one for a low-risk, high-reward type of deal for the Falcons. The team is scheduled to depart with backup QB Kirk Cousins when the official league year starts in a couple of weeks, althoughthey could very well bring him back and plug him in as a starter; stranger things have happened in Atlanta.
Former Falcons legend QB Matt Ryan is north of 6-foot-5, so we are unsure how he feels about a small quarterback after taking the reins of the franchise’s front-office decision-making role.
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Murray only made the playoffs once in seven seasons with the Cardinals and has a career record of 38-49-1. Everyone deserves a fresh start and a second chance, and the Falcons have nothing to lose in the matter.