{"id":776873,"date":"2026-02-26T05:09:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/776873\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T05:09:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:09:29","slug":"report-kyler-murray-would-prefer-to-be-released-by-arizona-cardinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/776873\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Kyler Murray would prefer to be released by Arizona Cardinals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the 2026 NFL League Year approaches (March 11), Arizona Cardinals quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/kyler-murray-77153\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kyler Murray<\/a> would prefer to be released so he can enter free agency. FOX Sports\u2019 Henry McKenna reported the news Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<p>Per McKenna, Murray\u2019s camp feels like the two-time Pro Bowl selection would be the top quarterback free agent on the market. Quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/malik-willis-82061\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Malik Willis<\/a>, who spent the last two seasons as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/jordan-love-65676\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jordan Love<\/a>\u2018s backup in Green Bay, is currently the consensus best free agent quarterback available.<\/p>\n<p>Murray played just five games in 2025, passing for 962 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions. The former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback has failed to play in 10 games in two of his past three seasons, and Arizona has failed to make the postseason in four straight campaigns. Across his seven-year stint in Arizona, Murray recorded 20,460 passing yards (third most in team history) and 121 passing touchdowns (third most in team history).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got plenty of talent. There was a year in which it was past the halfway point and we were talking about\u00a0Kyler Murray\u00a0as the MVP frontrunner,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Field Yates <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ESPNNFL\/status\/2022060999482671120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2022060999482671120%7Ctwgr%5E800293d9dc5e53ea3c666a40b2601971f544782e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.on3.com%2Fpro%2Fnews%2Fnfl-insider-believes-change-of-scenery-for-kyler-murray-is-best-for-all-parties-involved%2F\" rel=\"nofollow\">said<\/a> during the Feb. 12 edition of \u2018NFL Live\u2018. \u201cLet\u2019s be clear though\u2026\u00a0this feels like one where a change of scenery would be best for all parties involved. Kyler would be happier with an opportunity to restart his career somewhere. As for Arizona, you could clean the books up a little bit and get this offense built back up.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray No. 1 overall in 2019 Draft<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s part of me that wants to say this offense has some sleeping giants,\u201d Yates said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got some serious investments. They\u2019ve got maybe the best tight end in the NFL in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/trey-mcbride-116123\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trey McBride<\/a>. They have a guy they took fourth overall, that some called a generational prospect, in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/marvin-harrison-jr-84618\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Marvin Harrison Jr.<\/a>\u00a0And then\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/michael-wilson-88563\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Wilson<\/a>, last year, played like the player\u00a0Marvin Harrison Jr.\u00a0was supposed to be when he was on the sidelines. They\u2019ve got to clean up their offensive line in a major way, but there\u2019s just so much uncertainty around that quarterback spot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Murray dealt with his season-long foot injury this past season, veteran\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/jacoby-brissett-52356\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jacoby Brissett<\/a>\u00a0served as Arizona\u2019s quarterback. The Cardinals finished with a 3-14 record, marking their first season in franchise history with 14 losses. As Yates touched on, Arizona boasts some solid offensive pieces in wide receiver\u00a0Marvin Harrison Jr.\u00a0and First Team All-Pro tight end\u00a0Trey McBride.<\/p>\n<p>Bringing in a new quarterback, whether it be a veteran or a younger player, to reset things a bit in Arizona seems to be the direction they are heading in.\u00a0Kyler Murray, meanwhile, will likely attempt to rehabilitate his image elsewhere. Fellow highly-drafted quarterbacks, such as Super Bowl champion\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/sam-darnold-104254\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sam Darnold<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/baker-mayfield-9252\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Baker Mayfield<\/a>, have completed this arc themselves in the past few seasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the 2026 NFL League Year approaches (March 11), Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray would prefer to be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,7,73323,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-776873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizonacardinals","11":"tag-cardinals","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-kyler-murray-15-allen","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116135209504512015","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776873","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=776873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}