Kyler Murray: Another #1 Pick Bites the Dust

The TD-to-interception ratio is nearly identical. Stafford was a pocket passer working through bad Detroit rosters. Murray was supposed to be the upgrade — the dual-threat guy who could run when the play broke down and buy time when the pocket collapsed.

And that’s precisely the problem.

Murray ran for 3,186 yards over seven years — roughly 455 a season. The Cardinals drafted a quarterback and got a running back who also throws. The legs that made him a Heisman winner at Oklahoma became a crutch in Arizona. When the pocket got messy, Murray scrambled. He didn’t stand in and fire it downfield. And in the one playoff game of his career — a 34-11 demolition at the hands of the Rams — he threw for 137 yards, two interceptions and zero touchdowns.

Zero touchdowns.

The Dual-Threat Dream Gets Exposed When It Matters

Josh Allen had four turnovers when Denver bounced Buffalo out of the Divisional round this January. This is the same Josh Allen who won MVP, who had 4,247 total yards and 39 touchdowns in 2025. When the game got hard in January, he gave the ball away four times and went home. That’s a good quarterback, maybe a great one, getting exposed.

Murray is not Josh Allen. Murray never had Allen’s numbers, Allen’s arm, or Allen’s wins. The mobility that made Murray exciting in years one and two stopped making him dangerous by year five. He’s missed more than 20 games to injury over his career. Teams figured out that if you hit him enough, the running stops.

The Cardinals franchise has made the playoffs twice since 2009. They’re not the problem — or at least, they’re not the only problem. Check out how Arizona stacks up all-time at the position and you’ll see Murray’s legacy is going to look a lot like every other guy who came through the desert and disappeared.

Arizona Has Until March 15 to Figure This Out

New head coach Mike LaFleur was asked directly whether Murray is his quarterback. He gave a noncommittal answer. That’s not a ringing endorsement. The March 15 deadline matters because Murray’s 2027 salary of $19.5 million becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the new league year. If the Cardinals don’t trade him before then, they’re either keeping him or eating a massive dead cap hit.

Current trade return? Probably a third-round pick. Maybe a conditional second if Murray stays healthy and a new team wins nine games.

The Bermuda Triangle of NFL Franchises Is Waiting for Him

The Jets are the frontrunner. Of course they are. Murray fits perfectly — talented enough to get excited about, fragile enough to disappoint you, and expensive enough to handcuff the roster. That’s been the Jets quarterback model for 50 years.

The Vikings want him too. Some are already calling for J.J. McCarthy’s head after one season. That’s why they’re the Vikings — the team that finds new ways to talk themselves out of a young quarterback and into another veteran reclamation project. They haven’t been to a Super Bowl since January 1977. Nearly 50 years of this.

The Browns have been mentioned. The Browns.

Run the math through a Super Bowl simulator with Murray going to any of those three teams. Jets. Vikings. Browns. That’s a Bermuda Triangle of franchises that have combined zero Super Bowl wins since 1969. The Jets won that one. The Browns and Vikings have never won one at all. Ships go in. Quarterbacks go in. Nothing comes out.

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