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Patrick Peterson, Chase Edmonds Don't Think Kyler Murray Stays with Cardinals
April 21, 2022
Former Arizona Cardinals players Patrick Peterson and Chase Edmonds don't believe quarterback Kyler Murray will remain with the organization for the long haul.
Peterson, who's now with the Minnesota Vikings, provided a blunt response Wednesday when asked on the All Things Covered podcast (via Jeremy Cluff of the Arizona Republic) whether Murray would finish his career with the Cards:
"No. I've been around K1. He's a competitor. ... And I feel like, no disrespect to the Arizona Cardinals, I feel like they don't put the team in a position to be successful year after year after year. They want to sit and wait on draft picks instead of being aggressive in free agency and going and getting guys that can help you get better right now versus waiting on the future. And Kyler Murray's not gonna sit around and wait for that."
Edmonds, now a member of the Miami Dolphins, added he witnessed a lot of "drama" in Arizona over the last few years, which doesn't bode well for Murray sticking with the franchise:
"It wasn't surprising to me, bro, to say the least. ... I speak when spoken to, but my ears are always open. I know how certain things were done. I know us as players didn't always agree with. Obviously, that is how it is always going to go in the game of football, whether it is coaches-players, front office-players, front office-coaches. ... I just know, especially knowing how the last two years had ended, meaning 2021 and 2020, and knowing the type of competitor that K1 is, and the type of winner that he wants to be. ... I knew there was gonna be, at some point, some things happening."
Murray is entering the final guaranteed season of his four-year, $35.7 million rookie contract, though it's a virtual lock the Cardinals will exercise the fifth-year option in the deal for 2023 if an extension isn't in place by that deadline on May 2.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection caused a stir in February when he removed references to the organization on his social media pages.
In March, he downplayed any meaning behind that decision, saying it's common for people to reset their Instagram, and he added he wasn't focused on the future.
"I'm an Arizona Cardinal," Murray told reporters. "I've done nothing but give my all to the Cardinals and will continue to do that. I'm not really too worried about my future as a Cardinal."
While the 2019 first overall pick is saying the right things publicly, his former teammates don't see him staying in Arizona if the team doesn't show a greater commitment to winning.
"He wants to win. People are gonna say a lot of things about K1, but he wants to win more than anything, I promise you that," Edmonds said on All Things Covered. "And so if the winning ain't happening, I don't know."
Peterson added:
"I think the thing that Arizona does a bad job of, dropping the ball is, keeping key guys, keeping core guys there that can help you continue to build. Like a Chandler Jones for example. If you are looking to win, if you are looking to compete for a Super Bowl championship, there's no way in the world Chandler Jones should be walking away. I don't care how you cut it. I've seen it time and time again with Calais Campbell ... the list goes on. They have a tough problem just keeping guys there that mean something to the team."
The Cardinals reached the playoffs for the first time since 2015 last season but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round.
Despite that progress, Arizona's front office didn't make a major splash in free agency and watched two key contributors, wide receiver Christian Kirk and linebacker Chandler Jones, leave via the open market.
If that trend doesn't change quickly, Peterson and Edmonds see Murray leaving to chase a championship elsewhere in the near future.