Kyler Murray is set to test the advances of modern science with a return to the field Sunday. The Arizona Cardinals quarterback tore his ACL in December and is rushing to land his starting gig or audition for a role elsewhere if the team continues on its current path. At 1-8, the season is already lost, and it would make sense to talk Murray out of it, but no one ever knows what’s going on in the Valley, so I guess I’ll give it a try.
We’ll see if Murray’s ACL is more of an Adrian Peterson quick return, or a Joe Burrow situation where it took a few games to get back into the flow of things. The difference between Burrow’s recovery season from a brutal knee injury is that he had a full season and was rolling so well that he took the Bengals to the Super Bowl.
This year in Arizona is over on the field, but off it gets owner Michael Bidwell the Robert Sarver treatment. While I doubt this will lead to him selling the team — this is the NFL we’re talking about — the Cardinals haven’t come across as an organization that knows what it’s doing, or how to build around the current franchise quarterback .
If Murray’s return goes the way of Burrow, and the OU alum doesn’t flop around like his old self until Christmas Eve, the tank for Caleb Williams will still be alive. That turns those last three games into a coin flip, because who knows what’s at stake in weeks 16-18.
There are awards after Williams, but this isn’t like last year when Houston got lucky because Carolina had the first pick. If Murray gets the keys to the armored car, all he risks is getting his power and his job back, or setting fire to the draft positioning that Arizona has spent the offseason and a half chasing. If that’s what the team wants, fine, but why do we have to throw away wins?
It’s great to get some kind of value for Josh Dobbs, and I think the sixth- and (conditional) seventh-round picks have replaced the gap week that Clayton Tune so woefully filled. New coach Jonathan Gannon feels like a pretty good hire, so perhaps the team will turn around from tanking and be content to let Murray work out the kinks now rather than acclimatize and reacclimate at the start of next season.
However, if the Heisman winner is fully healthy, he will derail the Cardinals’ lazily made plans. The knock on Murray has always been health, as he is electric through the first eight games and then limps into the playoffs. So if the Cardinals get going, which could happen considering how many games they almost won with Dobbs under center, they’ll be right back in draft purgatory.
Despite their lone win, the team is still just two W’s away from the top 10. Who knows how patient Murray will be after a difficult contract negotiation in 2022, and no matter how good or bad he looks, there will be suitors lining up for his services .
There are plenty of rosters that are one competent QB away from a Super Bowl. (What’s up, Matthew Stafford?) Arizona isn’t that kind of club. At least not this year, or probably the next.
If I were Murray, I’d want to play. He knows as well as anyone that this is an audition, and given the status of the owner – and the owner himself – it’s no wonder he’s keeping his options open. The reason I keep mentioning Bidwell is that neither Caleb nor his father, Carl, seem interested in going to a clown show.
Suppose another toxic workplace story leaks, this season’s experiment with Murray goes badly, and not only does the team acquire him after he still ends up with the best odds, but he asks himself out. What do you think Kyler is going to say to Caleb when he calls – and he will call – to get some background?
The Cardinals better figure out what the plan is, and fast, or Baker Mayfield will be the only Lincoln Riley protégé they have to deal with this season.