Quarterback FOMO

The fear of not having a QB

The Arizona Cardinals just made Kyler Murray the second-highest paid player in the NFL in terms of annual average value. His new contract is for five years and $230.5 million. $160 million of the contract is guaranteed. He’ll make $46.1 million per year, behind only Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers at $50.27 million per year. Murray’s deal puts to rest an offseason saga that threatened his future in Glendale, Arizona, and likely sets the market for other quarterbacks due for extensions like Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.

This past offseason, Kyler Murray unfollowed team accounts of the Arizona Cardinals and scrubbed any mention of the club from his social media profiles. Murray’s agent also released a statement in February urging the team to “prioritize” signing the quarterback to an extension. This came after many in the Cardinals organization questioned Murray’s leadership and maturity.

These tensions flared up after Arizona got trounced in their Super Wild Card Weekend playoff game against the Rams 34-11. Murray played terribly in that game, throwing for only 137 yards, zero touchdowns, tossing two interceptions, and posting an abysmal QBR of 7.9 out of 100. Worse, he looked nervous and jittery in that game, zipping passes too hard to receivers when he wasn’t missing them entirely. He did not look like a franchise quarterback in that contest, yet Arizona decided to pay him like one. Why did they do that?

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