{"id":739964,"date":"2026-02-09T09:58:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T09:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/739964\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T09:58:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T09:58:19","slug":"kyler-murray-has-a-chance-of-returning-to-arizona-cardinals-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/739964\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyler Murray has a chance of returning to Arizona Cardinals in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Feb. 8, 2026, 1:23 p.m. MT<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/arizona-cardinals\/355\" data-autotag=\"c6331531-478d-4c7a-b93a-28f5b26af3f9\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a> will have big decisions to make at quarterback this offseason. The biggest one has to do with Kyler Murray, who missed every game after Week 5 with a foot injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">While one report says the Cardinals are <a href=\"http:\/\/cardswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/cardinals\/2026\/02\/08\/arizona-cardinals-reportedly-seeking-trade-partner-for-kyler-murray\/88579919007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">seeking trade partners<\/a> to deal Murray and his contract, getting traded is not a sure thing. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/47852416\/super-bowl-2026-latest-nfl-buzz-news-rumors-free-agency-trades-coaches#qbs\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">According to ESPN&#8217;s Jeremy Fowler<\/a>, Murray could potentially return and be their starting quarterback.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">In Arizona, my sense is that\u00a0Kyler Murray\u00a0staying with the Cardinals is still possible. New coach Mike LaFleur is familiar with Murray&#8217;s game. Nothing is decided as LaFleur sorts through staffing issues. Keeping Murray could prove the path of least resistance. If he stays,\u00a0Jacoby Brissett\u00a0would become a workable trade candidate. He&#8217;s due a reasonable $4.88 million in base salary. He has friends in the league &#8212; such as Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski and Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich &#8212; who could have interest in getting him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Cardinals have indicated they want to turn things around from their 14-loss season quickly. Murray is their best shot at that. Brissett went 1-11 over 12 starts and is 2-15 over his last 17 starts in two years. He is 20-45 in his career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Both Schefter and Fowler are dialed in NFL insiders. If they are hearing both the possibility of a trade or the possibility of him staying, it means the Cardinals don&#8217;t really have an idea what they will do yet. They haven&#8217;t made a set decision, or they know that a trade might not be possible.<\/p>\n<p>Need a news break? <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":body nav (play)|e|auto spike click:5|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/play.usatoday.com\/?itm_source=SPIKE&amp;itm_campaign=PLAYSPIKE&amp;itm_medium=ONSITE\">Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Cutting Murray would mean over $54.7 in dead money, losing more than $2 million in cap space. Using a post-June 1 designation would spread the dead money over two years, but the Cardinals would still incur more than $47.5 million in dead money this year, and there would be no relief to the cap until after June 1, which then would save more than $5.1 million against the cap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Decisions, decisions. The Cardinals have a lot to make. Do they trade Murray? Do they trade Brissett? Do they trade both? Who stays?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">These are all things we will find out in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Get more <a data-autotag=\"c6331531-478d-4c7a-b93a-28f5b26af3f9\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/arizona-cardinals\/355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Cardinals<\/a> and NFL coverage from <a data-autotag=\"c6331531-478d-4c7a-b93a-28f5b26af3f9\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/arizona-cardinals\/355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Cards<\/a> Wire&#8217;s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/27gxR7Oml5yVPywhOG8KHR?si=cGJ0FN6aRBquiLus5nj7rw&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=05e790ef05a641b8\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL9sICHPD_aT9zxnG7dJj6izJWgMhLMh_U&amp;si=rpNldnLNN-_DdW8R\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=83224X1595658&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-rise-up-see-red-podcast%2Fid670822447%3Fmt%3D2&amp;xcust=SC1-SCAR&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fcardswire.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fcardinals%2F2026%2F02%2F08%2Fkyler-murray-has-a-chance-of-returning-to-arizona-cardinals-in-2026%2F88580109007%2F\" data-v-afl=\"\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 8, 2026, 1:23 p.m. MT The Arizona Cardinals will have big decisions to make at quarterback this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[95878,375,390,2604,1327,7,6,95973,95974,95882,95890,95892,96064,96065,95896,95888,95895,95899,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-739964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-arizona-cardinals","11":"tag-arizonacardinals","12":"tag-cardinals","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnflcardinals","16":"tag-sstsncardinals","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagarizona-cardinals","19":"tag-tagespn-inc","20":"tag-tagjacoby-brissett","21":"tag-tagkyler-murray","22":"tag-tagnational-sports","23":"tag-tagnfl","24":"tag-tagnfl-hub","25":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","26":"tag-tagsports-news","27":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116040086557204487","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}