At this point, everyone who follows the Arizona Cardinals knows about the Kyler Murray situation.
The Cardinals quarterback hurt his ankle in Week 5 against the Tennessee Titans and has missed the last three games. Now, Murray has been placed on injured reserve, and quarterback Jacoby Brissett will be Arizona’s starter for at least four more games.
There are a lot of opinions and perspectives around Murray’s situation in Arizona, but there’s no one better to get the inside scoop from than ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
What More Does Adam Schefter Know About Kyler Murray?
On Saturday morning, Schefter published a piece with all the information he’s gathered so far on Murray’s situation with the Cardinals.
At this point, the Cardinals have three options at the end of the season: Trade Murray, release him or keep him and pay Murray $19.5 million.
“Arizona and Murray are expected to have extensive discussions to help determine whether to move forward together or go their own ways,” Schefter wrote. “Many sources believe the latter is the likely outcome, with one source saying this week that ‘a separation is imminent.'”
Many people think Murray’s played his last down in Arizona simply because the production has not been there. You can look at certain stats and make an argument in Murray’s favor; however, the team’s success hasn’t been there with Murray.
The former first-overall pick has shown plenty of flashes in his first seven years in the NFL, throwing for more than 3,700 yards in three separate seasons, and he’s made two Pro Bowls.
However, Murray has a career 38-48-1 record, just one winning season, and has not won a playoff game in his career.
To add injury to insult, neither coach Jonathan Gannon nor general manager Monti Ossenfort were a part of the Cardinals organization when Murray was drafted or when he signed his extension.
The Cardinals have at least four games to see what Brissett can do, but in his three games already, he’s outperformed Murray.
Other than Arizona’s offense averaging almost seven more points and 69 more yards per game with Brissett, the veteran has been much better at quarterback than Murray, according to PFSN’s QB Impact.
Brissett has earned an 82.8 score through three games compared to Murray’s 75.2 score in his five games, and Brissett has the better third-down conversion percentage.
But, outside of the play on the field, there’s a lot of financial impact involved in the Cardinals’ decision.
“Murray is guaranteed $36.8 million next year — his 2026 base salary and a large part of his roster bonus,” Schefter wrote. “A key trigger date looms on the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March, when $19.5 million of Murray’s 2027 base salary would become guaranteed if he still is on the roster.”
The Cardinals could decide to release Murray before June 1, and they’d take a $57.7 million dead cap hit. But, if Arizona releases Murray after June 1, the dead cap hit would go down to $50.5 million in 2026, and the remaining $7.2 million would hit in 2027.
The other option is trading Murray, which would save the most money.
“If the Cardinals were to trade Murray, they would create $35.3 million in cap savings while leaving behind $17.9 million in dead money,” Schefter wrote.
The Cardinals have a big decision to make at the end of the year, but for now, the focus is on getting Murray healthy enough to make the decision.
The former first-overall pick is eligible to return in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams. The Cardinals would have five games remaining in the 2025 season at that point.