We’ve reached March, which means free agency is almost upon us and there will be some big roster decisions made across the NFL, including for the Seattle Seahawks. It looks as if the NFC West quarterback landscape will be changing imminently.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport said on Sunday that Arizona Cardinals starter Kyler Murray, the No. 1 overall draft pick from 2019, is on his way out. Whether it’s a release or a trade, Kyler is done in the desert.
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If Arizona trades Murray then that’ll be a big help in terms of dead money taken on, otherwise it’ll be over $54 million in dead cap assuming it’s a pre-June 1 designation. Even if it’s post-June 1 that number only “improves” to $47 million. Murray was given a five-year extension worth $230 million back in 2022, having led the Cardinals to their only playoff appearance over the last decade. An ACL tear in 2022 cost him the first half of 2023, and he missed most of 2025 with a combination of a foot injury and a straight-up benching by (since fired) head coach Jonathan Gannon. Jacoby Brissett went from injury replacement to full-time starter for the remainder of the year.
The NFL rumor mill has linked the Cardinals with Jimmy Garoppolo, Malik Willis, and Geno Smith, all of whom are either free agents or, in the case of Geno, likely to be a free agent via release.
Murray is still only 28 years old and he had some high-quality moments early in his career, so there will surely be a market to bring him on board. But a promising start has given way to a frustrating end to Arizona’s search for a franchise quarterback.
As a fun fact to wrap this up, Seahawks backup Drew Lock is the only quarterback from the 2019 draft class with a Super Bowl ring.
