Cardinals' Jonathan Gannon says plenty about future of Kyler Murray with QB shut down

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray hasn't played since he went down with a lingering foot injury in Week 5 that ultimately landed him on injured reserve. 

There's now a chance that Murray has made his last in-game appearance as a member of the Cardinals. 

Kyler Murray's status for 2025 revealed

Per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, head coach Jonathan Gannon confirmed on Friday that the Cardinals are shutting Murray down for the remainder of the season because the signal-caller's injury is "not progressing where it’s gonna make sense that he can go."

The move was expected if only because 3-9 Arizona had already been eliminated from playoff contention ahead of their home game versus the Los Angeles Rams (9-3) this coming Sunday. Backup Jacoby Brissett is on track to serve as the Cardinals' QB1 through Week 18. 

Jonathan Gannon is asked about Kyler Murray's long-term future with the Cardinals 

Questions about Murray's long-term future hovered over the Cardinals long before he suffered his latest physical setback. On Friday, Gannon seemed to say plenty with his response to a question about that very topic.

"I'm worried about the Rams right now," Gannon directly said, per the Cardinals' website. 

Neither Gannon nor Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort was with the franchise when it made Murray the first pick of the 2019 NFL Draft and when it signed Murray to a five-year contract extension in the summer of 2022. 

Reports throughout the fall indicated that Murray didn't have much value as a movable asset ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline, and it's believed the Cardinals' current regime will be permitted to search for a new starting quarterback during the upcoming offseason. 

Murray thus far has guided the Cardinals to zero career postseason wins.

One way Kyler Murray could stay with the Cardinals

Earlier this week, Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports wrote that "the Cardinals may not want to give a rookie QB the keys to a franchise being coached by an obvious lame duck." Perhaps a new head coach would want to work with Murray for at least one season since he is already under contract. 

"If the team does make a coaching change," Alper wrote about the Cardinals, "the incoming coach’s view of the best path forward on offense would be part of any decision regarding Murray’s future in Arizona."