The Arizona Cardinals have struggled in recent years, and the team appears to want to turn the page. Arizona is going to move on from Kyler Murray as their quarterback, per ESPN.
“Sources: Cardinals have informed QB Kyler Murray that they intend to release him on the first day of the league year next Wednesday, barring a trade between now and then,” Adam Schefter posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Murray struggled to stay healthy during his time with the team. The 2025 season turned out to be an extremely frustrating one for Murray and Arizona. The Cardinals won just three games.
“Arizona already owes him $36.8M guaranteed in 2026, and another $19.5M would have triggered on March 15 for 2027. He now will be moving on,” Schefter added.
Murray finished the 2025 season with 962 passing yards and six touchdowns. He went down with an injury and ended up playing in just five games.
The relationship soured for the Cardinals and Kyler Murray
It had been reported by several news outlets in recent days, including ESPN, that Murray had not been communicating with Arizona's management following the 2025 season. The team had pledged to do everything it could to improve the roster heading into 2026.
“We're going to look at every avenue to improve, and we're going to continue and go through our process with that,” Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said.
The Cardinals have historically been one of the least successful NFL franchises in recent memory. Arizona did make the Super Bowl during the 2008 season, but lost that year's championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Arizona has had little success since.
The Cardinals hoped that Murray would be able to turn the franchise back into a winner. Arizona drafted him with the first overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. Murray's tenure with the Cardinals ended up being marred by injuries.
In his NFL career, Murray has 20,460 passing yards. He has thrown 121 career touchdown passes. In the last four seasons, Murray has just one campaign with more than 3,000 passing yards.
The Cardinals have a new head coach heading into 2026. After parting ways with Jonathan Gannon, Arizona hired Mike LaFleur.
