Kyler Murray had a 2022 season that he wishes he could simply forget.
While he got a new contract with the Arizona Cardinals this year, he didn’t have a good season at all.
His 3-8 record for the season was his worst since his rookie season.
His 2022 touchdown percentage, average passing yards per game, and QBR were all the worst of his career.
However, the worst part of his season was an ACL injury he suffered against the New England Patriots.
While the injury was over a month ago, NFL insider Ian Rapoport has an update on his injury.
According to him, the young quarterback is taking his time to ensure his ACL is 100% before he returns.
Cardinals have a March 25th deadline looming to pick up Kyler Murray’s $36M option.
Currently he counts $16M against the 2023 cap. A trade before the option would only add $7M to that number. After the option is picked up, the dead money balloons to $59.2M. pic.twitter.com/z3aazdV1kA— Chuck Harris (@chuckh3) January 29, 2023
This move puts Murray’s return at the middle part of the 2023 season at the latest.
While Murray wants to protect himself from further injury, the Cardinals have a decision to make on him as well.
With the team having the third overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, they can easily draft a quarterback.
However, if they do this, they must trade Murray before his contract causes a dead cap hit of $59.2 million.
While a trade is the best option if they draft a quarterback, it must happen before March 25th.
If it happens after this date, the trade will cost them more money.
But another issue is finding a team willing to trade for a quarterback who will miss most of the upcoming NFL season.
However, a trade will probably never happen.
This means the Cardinals will have to wait until late in 2023 before they get their star quarterback back on the field.
