Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is already demanding a contract extension through his agent Erik Burkhardt.
He wants to follow the path of Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and Josh Allen who all got new deals after their third year in the NFL.
In a recently-released statement, Murray laid out his merits for getting a new deal, especially the fact that the Cardinals improved from a three-win team to playoff contenders during his tenure.
However, it can be argued that he’s not the only reason for the team’s resurgence.
Still, Murray is one of the better quarterbacks in the league and another team will get him if the Cardinals don’t agree to an extension.
He might also explore the idea of playing baseball if contract talks didn’t materialize.
But based on how the market for NFL quarterbacks has developed in recent years, Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus had a guess on what Murray’s deal will look like in terms of years and total amount.
What a Kyler Murray extension would look like, per @PFF_Brad 🤯💰💰 pic.twitter.com/sZeJkpo59C
— PFF (@PFF) March 1, 2022
The tweet above by Pro Football Focus sees Murray receiving a six-year, $275 million deal.
That number puts his annual pay to $45.83 million which is comparable to what Mahomes will receive in his ten-year, $450 million contract.
Is Murray Worth That Much Money?
To be fair, he is not worth that amount because he has no postseason success to show for.
However, the Cardinals don’t have much leverage because they don’t have other options at the position.
He plays well at the beginning of the season and falters towards the end when some of his top targets are not around.
Unfortunately, everything has to be in place for him to perform well.
Without DeAndre Hopkins, he couldn’t do much in their 34-11 playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Frankly, Lamar Jackson is worth that type of deal even if he has no agent to negotiate for him.
As for Murray, he must prove first that he’s a dependable option during the games that matter.
Otherwise, his fair value should be lower than what Allen is set to receive at $43 million annually for six years.
