We here at Revenge of the Birds aren’t obsessed with Kyler Murray. We report what occurs, of course, and put out an article when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Arizona Cardinals cut bait with Murray and announced it early enough instead of waiting until the league new year on March 12. Maybe that was in respect to their former starting quarterback. Perhaps they appeased his agent. Whatever the reason, it definitely helped Murray while at the same time hurt the Cardinals because whichever
NFL team was looking to come through with an 11th-hour trade now just waited until his release.
RELATED: MURRAY SIGNS WITH THE VIKINGS
And it assisted the other 31 NFL clubs. Especially for the teams who were looking for a seasoned veteran to come in and compete, or become an experienced backup. Everyone knew what to expect from the Cardinals regarding Murray.
And the decision to release Murray came from the new coaching staff. Owner Michael Bidwill kept Murray on the roster when he hired Mike LaFleur away from the Los Angeles Rams. GM Monti Ossenfort didn’t release Murray, but kept the signalcaller so that LaFleur could decide if he wanted to retain him or not.
It’s pretty obvious that LaFleur made the ultimate decision on Murray. Perhaps LaFleur was content to ride with Jacoby Brissett. Maybe he was satisfied with Kedon Slovis as the backup. It just could be that LaFleur and Ossenfort have this grand plan of which young QB to select in this year’s NFL draft to bring along slowly. And once they do draft a new guy, and they will, he can sit at least a year.
They wanted QB Jimmy Garoppolo, but that plan hit a snag. Brissett is under contract, and newly-signed Gardner Minshew has plenty of NFL game experience, so unless both athletes become injured, the new kid is pretty much safe to sit and learn.
Ions ago, quarterbacks called their own plays except for the Cleveland Browns, whose head coach, Paul Brown, would send in offensive guards every down with a new play. Other than that, every QB in the league called their own plays. It just so happens that every rookie QB didn’t play for at least three years. This gave the new guy time to develop and gain confidence once he was tossed into a starting role.
Now, new quarterbacks are salted, doused with pepper, have green and red bell peppers thrown onto their uniform along with some sauteed white onions, a few drops of hot sauce, dipped in enriched flour, deep fried until golden brown on both sides, and then thrown to the wolves.
But Murray becomes a part of the Vikings outfit with the opportunity to compete for a starting role, and to tutor the youngster J.J. McCarthy, whom the organization used the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL draft on. A valuable spot for a guy who is struggling. Remember, in days long gone, McCarthy would still be waiting for his turn instead of fighting for his job.
Not to belabor the Murray signing by the Vikings, but just want to discuss some tidbits that another media outlet or two has dabbled on the subject. ROTB is just the messenger, so to speak.
Yahoo! Sports discussed the Murray signing on their show, “Yahoo! Sports Daily,” with hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz. They asked the question, “Did the Vikings make a mistake by thinking Murray would fix their quarterback issues?”
Remember, two seasons ago, Minnesota went 14-3-0 with free agent Sam Darnold at the helm, who they had signed to a one-year deal. Did they sign him to a long-term deal during the season when they were in the midst of a nine-game win streak and chasing the Number 1 seed in the playoffs?
That would be a big hell no. Instead, they ditched him and let him test the free agency waters. We all know the end of this saga as Darnold signed with the Seattle Seahawks, went on to capture the Number 1 seed in the NFC, and win this year’s Super Bowl. Oh yeah, on a three-year contract. The Seahawks knew. The Vikings didn’t and spit and sputtered their way to a 9-8-0 record instead.
So now, they bring in Murray.
The Daily team mentioned that Murray is with the Vikings on the NFL veteran minimum. Fitz mentioned that Murray could be just another reclamation QB story in the provisions of Darnold, Mac Jones, Geno Smith, or Daniel Jones. Fenton then counters with, “I just don’t think Kyler Murray is that guy.”
“The Arizona Cardinals told us that he’s not a starting quarterback in the NFL,” stated Fitz. “Oh, but the X, Y, Z percentage decimal point analytics says that Kyler Murray’s in the top 20. I don’t care. He was a $35 million bench warmer last year.”
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell is a former quarterback, and at one time, before he hooked up with an NFL club as an assistant coach, he was a private quarterback instructor. So, the dude knows a lot about quarterbacks. Well, except for how to retain a talent like Darnold, that is. Oops.
In any respect, O’Connell believes he can fix Murray. Does Murray need to be fixed? The player will tell you that he has been doing what he has been doing since he quit playing with Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles.
Will Murray resist? Or be thankful that another team not only wanted him but is allowing him to reclaim his status as an NFL starting quarterback?
A player like Murray has several goals in mind with new surroundings, and you can bet that high on that list is to prove to his former team and their fanbase that they royally screwed up by not keeping him. Sort of like a man or a woman who loses 25 pounds once they get a divorce. Somebody new is going to see them naked.
Can O’Connell make Murray what he used to be?
“I’m not convinced in the slightest,” suggested Fenton. “I’m not convinced with the narrative that Kyler Murray’s gonna come in and he’s gonna push J.J. McCarthy. You don’t bring in Kyler Murray to push and to motivate your young quarterback.”
Perhaps the Vikings have silently given up on McCarthy, so they brought in an experienced guy with lots of NFL starts to come in and take his starting job, so that they can move on from him with some visual aids. In 2024, Minnesota didn’t go 14-3 with McCarthy as their starter. So, what happens if the team regains some prominence and gets back to the playoffs with Murray leading them? That could be the team’s way of pointing to McCarthy to find his own trade partner.
Said Fitz, “We have anointed (O’Connell) as this just difference maker at the quarterback position. We continually say that their head coach is a quarterback whisperer. There is no world where I believe Sam Darnold and Kyler Murray are in the same category as quarterbacks. I do not like this move.”
On a recent Pro Football Focus podcast, host Mike Florio gave his opinion about the signing.
“Kyler hasn’t had a great year since 2021 and tore his ACL in late 2022. The worst year of Murray is still a lot better than what the Vikings got last year at quarterback,” said Florio. “Now he gets a chance. And we get to see how he operates in a Kevin O’Connell offense.”
Murray certainly isn’t blameless with all the stuff that went on with the Cardinals. After all, his head coach, Jonathan Gannon, loved the guy and kept stating that Murray was his starting quarterback even when he wasn’t.
We all seem to believe and know that if a team is going to screw it up at quarterback, it will be either the Cleveland Browns, the New York Jets, or the Cardinals. They have hit here and there, but overall, it is usually a mess. The quarterback is the guy who is supposed to turn the tables for any franchise.
McConnell is known for getting the most out of a quarterback and a little beyond. Here we are, seven years into Murray’s NFL career, and he has grown, he has matured, he has changed since he came into the league.
“He’s learned a lot of lessons the hard way,” surmised Florio. “I never got the sense that the Cardinals did anything to prop him up. If anything, they tried to tear him down with that stupid-ass homework clause. That’s the moment.”
At Murray’s initial Vikings presser, he stated:
“Ever since I started playing tackle football when I was seven years old. Genuine fandom, deep Vikings gear through and through. A lot of purple in my household. I cried real tears when Brett (Favre) threw that interception (in the playoffs).”
In the first three years with Arizona, Murray came as advertised, winning “NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year,” being named to the NFL All-Rookie Team, and taking home several Pro Bowls. But Florio points out that in 2022, is when the homework clause became a portion of Murray’s contract, and the player went downhill from there. The embarrassment alone became a deterrent.
Looking back, if the franchise thought that little of Murray, and he was a hot commodity, honestly, that would have been the time to trade him and get a bounty in return. Even at the trade deadline last year, he still had some trade value. But instead, the franchise got zero-nil-zilch in return.
“Your quarterback has to be all-in. Your quarterback has to be able to do everything the coaching staff wants,” Florio stated. “He has to be the conduit between the coaches and the locker room. He’s part of management.”
This falls in line with the Cardinals’ management over the years. Well-oiled machine, or generations of dysfunction?
O’Connell and Murray will most likely have a great marriage in a very good system. The receiver room is excellent, highlighted by Justin Jefferson, with a competent tight end, a good running back, and a better-than-decent offensive line ranked #17 this past year. The Vikings are picking at #18 in April’s draft and could end up with OG Vega Ioane of Penn State, Georgia OT Monroe Freeling, or OT Kadyn Proctor from Alabama to help transform this group.
ESPN rated 50 free agent signings, and Murray’s was second on their list. They gave the signing an “A.”
They stated:
“The Vikings pulled off an absolute coup at the game’s most important position. And on paper, Minnesota just got a huge upgrade at quarterback for the veteran minimum. If it breaks right, Murray can help the Vikings be a playoff threat now. He’s throwing to one of the best, if not the best, wide receivers in football, Justin Jefferson. The value here is enormous. Minnesota deserves credit for being open to at least the possibility of moving on from McCarthy this quickly by bringing in such a strong competitor.”
Both podcasts acknowledge that Murray will become at least part of the solution for the Vikings organization next year and could flourish, or continue down his spiraling path.
