Kyler Murray has been named as the captain of the Arizona Cardinals as per recent news. The 26-year-old who is still recovering from a torn ACL injury will be making a much-awaited return to the NFL. Though the fans doubt if he will even play this year, the Cardinals have shown faith in his performance by naming him as their QB.
The Arizona Cardinals haven’t been at the top of the league in a while. They rank second to last in their overall score among the 32 NFL clubs. Kyler Murray signed a 5-year contract with them in 2022 valued at over $230 million. He has shown excellent potential by being the fourth-youngest player in NFL history (24 years, 120 days) to reach 10,000 career passing yards. The controversial injury contract that damaged Derek Carr and Matt Ryan’s careers strikes again.
What is happening to Kyler Murray?
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With every player in the NFL, their contract guarantees compensation for all the games that he misses due to injuries. The injury guarantee is a form of insurance in an unforgiving sport like the National Football League. Thus, with the recent announcement of Kyler Murray being named as the captain for the Cardinals, the fans suspect a subplot related to the injury clause.
Report: The #Cardinals would owe QB Kyler Murray $37 million in 2024, $29M in 2025 and $26M in 2026 in injury guarantees if he can’t pass a physical before March, per Mike Florio.
Florio suggests the Cardinals might keep Murray on the PUP list throughout the 2023 season to avoid… pic.twitter.com/sdUUbbyXFH
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 3, 2023
“The #Cardinals would owe QB Kyler Murray $37 million in 2024, $29M in 2025, and $26M in 2026 in injury guarantees if he can?t pass a physical before March, per Mike Florio.”
The injury clause would require the Cardinals to pay huge amounts in compensatory fees to Kyler Murray. So by benching him and putting him on the PUP list, they will ensure that Murray doesn’t make it off the bench and the injury clause can be prevented. The Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon said, “He’s our franchise quarterback. And everything that I want our captains to be, he demonstrates it.”
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Will Murray actually play anytime soon?
Kyler Murray is one of just four players in NFL history (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, and Cam Newton), with 400+ rushing yards in each of his first four seasons. He also became the first player in NFL history with 70+ passing TDs and 20+ rushing TDs in his first three seasons. Though he has had an injury-riddled career so far, there is no doubt that Kyler ‘Hail’ Murray is a talented player with a lot left to give to the game.
While the Cardinals have honored him as the captain of the 53-man squad, fans are still wondering if he will actually get to play.?Murray will miss the first four games of the season due to recovering from his ACL injury. His future remains uncertain with the Cardinals but ideally, he should be fit to play by Week 5, in early October.
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Will the fans get to see a healthy Murray soon? Or will his injured knee keep him away from the football forever? Only time will tell what his future holds, come October.
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