The Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray have come to an agreement on a contract extension. The five-year deal worth over $230 million will keep the star quarterback in the desert for a while and out of professional baseball.
Murray was asked about his baseball future at his press conference with the Cardinals. General manager Steve Keim quipped that the team that has Murray's big-league rights, the Oakland Athletics, has an embarrassingly low payroll. This should terminate the chances that Murray
The Athletics indeed have a payroll so low that it rivals that of the average annual value in Murray's new contract with the Cardinals. It's an intentional move from the franchise even though it came at the cost of most of their good players. They are one of the worst teams in all of baseball, play in one of its least popular stadiums and are on the brink of relocating, possibly to Las Vegas.
Murray is doing just fine in football. He has made two straight Pro Bowls and is on a team that just made the playoffs. Even though the beginning of this offseason was very rough and the Cardinals still have to prove that they can surround him with a team good enough to compete for a Super Bowl, this is where the grass is greener.
Oakland drafted Kyler Murray ninth overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. The Cardinals picked him first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. It seems clear that he has made the right choice, as he is one of the sport's biggest stars and has made much more money than he would have made in baseball.