Kyler Murray and new Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort appear to be on the same page heading into their first NFL season together. Murray and former GM Steve Keim? Not so much.
Murray recently made headlines for his polarizing comments about people having to “look in the mirror” when things aren’t working out. NFL circles took that as a subtle jab at the previous Cardinals regime after the team made moves to replace Keim and last year’s head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“I’m going to listen. I’m going to be coachable and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability, but if the s– ain’t working, at some point, we all have to look in the mirror,” Murray said on the Cardinals’ Flight Plan series.
Keim recently chimed in on Murray’s comments in a Tuesday appearance on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd. Safe to say the ex-Cardinals executive wasn’t thrilled with his former quarterback’s stance.
“What he said, you don’t love it,” Keim remarked. “When he added the word ‘but’ in, generally behind a positive, the word ‘but’ does not end in a positive light. I certainly didn’t want to hear that. Nor do fans want to hear a guy who’s making $46.1M a year blame anybody but himself. I’m not saying that he’s a guy that blames people, yet at the same time, when you get that bag of cash, everybody expects you to take it on your shoulders."
Keim was at the helm of the Cardinals organization from 2013-22. He was the man gave Murray that “bag of cash” in the first place before the start of last season.
At the time, Murray’s deal didn’t feel too outlandish. Murray was coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons and led the Cardinals to a 10-2 start in 2021. It’s been all downhill for Arizona from that point onwards. The team has gone 5-18 since Week 14 of the 2021 season and ended the 2022 campaign with seven straight losses.
With the Cardinals under new management, perhaps Murray can regain the shine that he once had just a few seasons ago. If not, then the pressure that comes with his massive $230.5M contract will weigh much heavier on his shoulders.
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