Heading into the 2024 NFL offseason, there will likely be speculation regarding whether or not the Arizona Cardinals choose to keep Kyler Murray as their quarterback, or pursue another option in the draft. Murray was originally drafted No. 1 overall in 2019 to be the franchise quarterback for Arizona. Five years later, and the results are mixed.
Murray and the Cardinals made the playoffs for the first time in his third season, which is pretty standard for a lot of young quarterbacks. During that playoff season, Murray went 9-5 in the 14 games he started while completing a career-high 69.2% of his passes for 3,787 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also added 423 yards rushing and five rush touchdowns. In the sole playoff game game of his career, Murray had one of his worst games yet as he threw for only 137 yards with zero interceptions and two touchdowns. The Cardinals were completely outmatched by the Los Angeles Rams, who defeated them 34-11.
Following that season, the Cardinals have yet to return to the playoffs. Murray went 3-8 as a starter in 2022 before he tore his ACL, and is 2-4 since coming back from injury. While the Cardinals ideally wanted more since drafting Murray, they haven't given him enough support to consistently succeed. They made this evident when they fired former coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Murray has barely had the opportunity to play since Jonathan Gannon took over as head coach. Clearly, Kingsbury was not working for the Cardinals, so it would be smart for the Cardinals to give Murray an actual chance with the new regime if they believe Kingsbury was the issue.
Outside of this, Murray has already proven he can be a good NFL quarterback. After all, there was a reason Murray was the consensus No. 1 overall pick the year he was drafted. His unique mobility and ability to throw deep makes him a dangerous playmaker for opposing defenses, but he needs weapons around him.
The new regime could opt to draft a quarterback and start. Arizona has two top-20 draft picks as of now, including the No. 2 overall pick. If they end the season in this position, they are in prime position for one of the top two quarterbacks in Caleb Williams and Drake Maye. However, there is no guarantee that even the top quarterback will pan out. If they decide to instead draft someone like Marvin Harrison Jr., they could give Murray and the Cardinals offense a legitimate threat to scare other opponents.
Besides needing more weapons, it's not a surprise the team hasn't been successful given how poorly the Cardinals organization has been run. In part because of Dan Snyder and the Washington Commanders, the Cardinals ownership woes flew under the radar. With poor front office and ownership decisions, Arizona hasn't made consistent smart choices that has hurt Murray.
One of the primary doubts surrounding Murray was reports that he did not watch a lot of film, causing the Cardinals to put a stipulation in his massive $230 million extension that required him to watch more. However, both his coach and offensive coordinator have shared that Murray has shown a lot of growth in this area. He's even gotten an endorsement by offensive coordinator Drew Pretzing that he is a franchise quarterback. If his coach and coordinator believe in him, it makes sense for the Cardinals to build off what they started. Murray will likely go into 2024 fully healthy, which gives Arizona time to use their picks to add to the roster and contend.
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