Insider updates Cardinals' stance on Kyler Murray

It appears Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon will let quarterback Kyler Murray essentially win or lose his starting job for Week 1 of the 2024 season over the next two months. 

 "What I know from my reporting on this situation is that the Cardinals haven't made up their mind or ruled anything out," ESPN's Dan Graziano reported for a piece published Monday. "They want to see Murray play the rest of this season so they can decide whether their best course of action is to keep him and use their draft picks to build around him." 

Neither Ossenfort nor Gannon were with the Cardinals when Murray signed a five-year contract extension reportedly worth $230.5M with $160M guaranteed before the first pick of the 2019 NFL Draft underwent ACL surgery that included some meniscus repair this past January. Murray returned to the lineup for the first time since his injury on Sunday and helped the Cardinals earn what could become a franchise-altering 25-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. 

The 26-year-old made plays with his arm and his legs against Atlanta, and he completed 19-of-32 passes for 249 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Murray also contributed 33 rushing yards and a score in the victory that improved the Cardinals to 2-8 and left Arizona holding the rights for the fourth overall pick in next year's draft. 

"The story on Murray isn't written yet, and him returning as the Cardinals' QB for 2024 and beyond is still within the realm of possibility," Graziano added. "Sunday's performance -- which could understandably have been marred by rust but was not -- only helps his case." 

While it's far too early to know if a different team would help the Cardinals escape Murray's contract by the 2024 draft, it seems likely the New York Giants, New England Patriots and Chicago Bears will be among the clubs interested in USC Trojans star Caleb Williams and Drake Maye of the North Carolina Tar Heels next spring. Murray has seven games left to show he's a better long-term prospect than those two youngsters beginning with Sunday's matchup at the 5-4 Houston Texans. 

As of Monday afternoon, oddschecker listed the Cardinals as four-point underdogs against the Texans.