How does Kyler Murray’s new contract impact Lamar Jackson’s negotiations?
USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon breaks down Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s new contract extension and how it impacts Lamar Jackson’s negotiations with the Ravens.
USA TODAY
Much has been made of Kyler Murray’s “independent study” clause in his contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals, but another clause in the quarterback’s new deal with his NFL team is also intriguing.
Murray’s contract has a clause about baseball.
The Arizona Republic reported it in a recent story:
“Murray’s extension also includes a clause that triggers a default to his guaranteed money should he have any involvement with organized baseball. A first-round pick by the A’s in 2018, he cannot participate in a tryout, workout, practice, scrimmage, exhibition or game for any baseball team in any baseball league.”
Murray’s new deal in Arizona is for $230.5 million, with $100-million plus in guaranteed salary, so the QB now has a lot of reasons to be done with baseball.
Interestingly, Cardinals GM Steve Keim was asked about Murray’s baseball career potentially being over during Murray’s contract extension news conference.
Keim’s reply: “Did you guys see the payroll of the Oakland A’s vs. Kyler’s contract? Enough said.”
Murray is set to make $46.1 million in average annual salary under his extension. The A’s opening day payroll this season was $47.7 million.
Kyler Murray’s history with baseball
Murray is a former first-round pick of the Oakland Athletics, who still hold his MLB rights.
He has indicated that he would like to play both baseball and football at some point in interviews in the past.
Murray hit .296 with 10 home runs, 47 RBIs and stole 10 bases in 2018 at Oklahoma, playing center field. The A’s selected him No. 9 overall in the 2018 MLB draft.
But he really shined on the football field his senior season for the Sooners, winning the Heisman Trophy before getting picked by the Cardinals with the first pick in the 2019 draft.
“That was the hardest decision I ever had to make,” Murray told The Dan Patrick Show last year about picking football over baseball. “It honestly took me a long time to figure out what I was going to do.”
He continued: “It was hard for me to tell (the A’s) I’m not coming to play for them after I already told them I was going to.”
Murray said that he even thought to himself “You should have just played baseball” after his tough first half against the Lions in his first NFL game.
When asked if baseball was still a possibility by Patrick, Murray said: “As far as my ability goes, yeah. I don’t know how the contract works and stuff like that, but yeah.”
The baseball clause in Murray’s new contract extension now makes it extremely unlikely that we’ll ever see Murray playing that other sport, at least for a very long time.
Murray now has millions of reasons not to pick up a bat or a glove.
