A couple of months ago, Kyler Murray made the news for scrubbing the Arizona Cardinals off his social media profiles. Then, the word around the NFL was that the team wasn’t sold on him as their long-term QB.
The team was quick to dismiss that narrative and state that they’re fully committed to Murray as their QB1. Then again, they have yet to make him an offer for a contract extension, prompting suspicion once again.
With that in mind, some believe that Murray could be the next QB to threaten to hold out and not play unless he gets a new deal, as his agent and camp have already pulled their opening proposal off the table.
NFL Rumors: Kyler Murray To Hold Out?
“Murray is not expected to play unless he gets a new deal, per sources informed of the decision,” wrote Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “The Cardinals have yet to make a contract offer to Murray, whose agent, Erik Burkhardt, informed the team weeks ago he was pulling his opening proposal off the table.”
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This Is Why A Holdout Isn’t Likely
Then again, NFL insider Mike Florio believes Murray can’t afford to hold out at this point in his career. Instead, they’re likely to work out a deal eventually and he’ll be back on the gridiron by the start of training camp:
(Transcript via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk)
“If he ultimately holds out, what will it cost? Per the CBA, he’d be fined $40,000 per day. Far more importantly, he’d lose the vast majority of his 2022 compensation — a 90-man roster bonus in the amount of $4.524 million — if he doesn’t report by the third day of training camp.
If he’s willing to forfeit $4.524 million by not showing up by the third day of camp, why not also give up his $765,000 salary and sit out the whole year? Well, doing so would result in the forfeiture of more than $5.8 million in paid but unearned signing bonus money.
So, yes, it could get very expensive for Murray to stay away in order to force a new contract or a trade.“
In the long run, losing nearly $6 million could be meaningless for Murray, given today’s QB market. Then again, it doesn’t seem like the Cardinals are willing to cave into his mind games, so this could get worse before it gets any better.
