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Quarterback Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals had an eventful offseason, to say the least. Murray began angling for a contract extension shortly after the regular season ended and eventually removed all Cardinals-related content from his social media accounts shortly after the Pro Bowl. His agent, Erik Burkhardt, also got involved by publicly questioning whether Arizona was committed to winning.
Fortunately for Cardinals fans, Murray and the team came to an agreement on a contract extension on July 21. The extension was a big one as Murray re-upped with the Cards for five years and $230.5 million, keeping him in Arizona through the end of the 2028 season.
Now that the ink is dry on Murray's pact with Arizona, we are going to take a deeper look at Murray's contract details and then dive into the fantasy implications of the deal. All of the details from Murray's contract information come from the fine folks at Spotrac.
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What Are The Details Of Kyler Murray's Contract?
Murray's contract extension makes him the second-highest paid player in NFL history. His pact includes a $29 million signing bonus, $160 million guaranteed, and an average annual salary of just over $46 million. The contract will run through the end of the 2028 season, with the Cardinals able to get out of the deal with no dead money at the conclusion of the 2027 campaign.
The Cardinals and general manager Steve Keim included an annual $1.5 million incentive and a $750,000 incentive each year that he logs 600 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. Of course, the part of Murray's contract that got the most attention was the organization requiring him to partake in four hours of independent film study on his own each week.
It was reported on Thursday, however, that the Cardinals have since removed that provision from Murray's deal, possibly thanks to the mostly negative public reaction online.
What Are The Fantasy Implications For Murray's Extension?
An NFL team paying big money to keep their talented quarterback in town is certainly not a new concept, although the path Murray and the Cardinals walked to get here was a bit more dramatic than usual. That being said, Murray sticking around in Arizona through 2028 definitely has fantasy ramifications.
One interesting piece to the Murray contract mentioned earlier is the annual $750,000 incentive for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Much of Murray's fantasy value comes from his elite speed and rushing ability from the quarterback position. Over the years, we have seen running quarterbacks such as Russell Wilson and even Dak Prescott cut back on their rushing attempts as they reach their late 20s. Murray is still just 24 but he could be enticed to keep running to hit those stat thresholds, which would keep his fantasy value in the elite QB tier.
Murray's extension is good news for the entire Arizona offense. The quarterback has already shown that he can support an explosive at times NFL offense. Whoever his running back is over the next several years will benefit from Murray's rushing skills as the defenses will have to worry about the threat of him taking off on any given play. Murray has also shown the willingness to lock onto his alpha receiver, as well. DeAndre Hopkins saw 160 targets come his way in 2020, the first season he and Murray played together.
Finally, the contract extension is a positive development for Murray's dynasty value as it is now known that he will remain in a good system for quarterback production in Arizona. Murray was commonly going off the board in dynasty startups as a top-three quarterback before last season but dipped into the mid-range QB1 zone as the 2021 season progressed. With the threat of him possibly getting traded to a bad team now off the table, Murray could be in line to recoup some of that lost value with a strong 2022 campaign.
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