Kyler Murray's Cardinals Contract Deemed 'Not Tradeable' by NFL Execs amid Rumors

Multiple NFL executive believes the Arizona Cardinals will encounter serious trouble if they attempt to trade quarterback Kyler Murray

"That's just not a tradeable contract," one NFL executive told The Athletic's Jeff Howe.

"Moving that contract is problematic," another exec said to Howe.

Murray signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension that runs through 2028. As Howe noted, Murray is due a fully guaranteed $35.3 million salary next season, and he'll get another $11.9 million for 2025 if he's on the roster on March 17, 2024.

If the Cardinals want to move Murray, they'd likely prefer to do so before March 17 to avoid incurring that hit. But that puts Arizona in a bind with other teams in negotiations given the desperation to get rid of him.

"As another team, why would I do that?" an executive told Howe. "They'd probably just cut him."

The Cardinals are at a crossroads right now. If the season ended today, Arizona will hold the No. 1 overall pick, meaning a change to start over at quarterback (perhaps with USC's Caleb Williams). Ultimately, the 1-8 Cardinals should likely be in a position to pick high come April.

Murray is coming off a torn ACL suffered last December, but he's set to make his 2023 debut on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. The 2019 Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year flashed at times during his four-year career, most notably when the two-time Pro Bowler accounted for 66 total touchdowns in 2020 and 2021, leading the Cardinals to the 2021 playoffs.

His most recent year (2022) was arguably his worst, though, with a career-low 6.1 yards per pass attempt and just 14 passing touchdowns through 11 games. His 87.2 quarterback rating was also a career-low mark.

Of course, the 26-year-old still has plenty left in the tank, and it's certainly possible he will return back to that 2020-2021 form. But the Cardinals are under new leadership this year with general manager Monte Ossenfort and general manager Jonathan Gannon and could be compelled to start over with a new (and perhaps higher-ceiling) player in the draft.

If that's the case, getting Murray off the roster will certainly prove costly, especially in dead cap money, and he could in theory just be released. But he doesn't have any guaranteed money due to him after 2024 either.

For now, though, Murray is set to lead the Cardinals over their final eight games, beginning with a home game against Atlanta on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET.