The Arizona Cardinals are dealing with a complex quarterback situation.
It’s not that they don’t have an able play-caller for the starting role.
Instead, their front office must deliver on a contract extension for current starter Kyler Murray.
Unfortunately, the price tag won’t be cheap, given how the quarterback market escalated this offseason.
To Arizona’s defense, they can have Murray under contract until 2023 if they pick up his fifth-year option worth $29,703,000
However, as Pro Football Focus shared, that’s nowhere near the going rate for a franchise quarterback.
Lamar Jackson & Kyler Murray should be expecting huge paydays 💰 pic.twitter.com/fRbbekAEyP
— PFF (@PFF) April 17, 2022
PFF tweeted a quote from their reporter, Doug Kyed, saying, “Derek Carr‘s new contract means Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson should be seeking more than $40.5 million per year.”
Even before Carr signed his three-year, $121.5 million extension, $40 million shaped up to be the base amount for a Pro Bowl quarterback.
Dak Prescott got a four-year, $160 million extension from the Dallas Cowboys, while Matthew Stafford received a contract of the same value after winning Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams.
Murray’s Leverage Over The Cardinals
Murray and his agent, Erik Burkhardt, initially declared that the quarterback wouldn’t play unless a new deal was in place.
They tested the market because Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen received their extensions by their third NFL season.
Burkhardt made an initial offer to the Cardinals, which he already took off after seeing the surge in quarterback salaries.
But after seeing Carr’s new contract, there’s no way Murray will be asking anything less than what he signed for.
They have comparable career achievements because Carr has three Pro Bowl selections while Murray has two.
They also haven’t won a playoff game.
However, Murray’s upside makes him more valuable than Carr, making $40.5 million annually the minimum.
NEXT: Kyler Murray Made His Demands Way Too Early