Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur wasn’t ready to talk about the team’s plans for Kyler Murray at his introductory press conference early this month and he didn’t have much more to say about the quarterback at a press conference on Wednesday.
The assumption has long been that the Cardinals and Murray will be parting ways before the 2026 season. Murray only played in five games last season before going on injured reserve with a foot injury, which made him unlikely to return even before the change from Jonathan Gannon to LaFleur reset the direction of the franchise.
The manner in which a split would happen remains a question mark because Murray’s already been guaranteed $36.8 million for the 2026 season and LaFleur would only say that the team is talking about how to best move forward.
“Just like everything else on the roster, open conversations in this building,” LaFleur said, via the team’s website. “No timeframe on that.”
A solution ahead of the start of the new league year would be the best case for all involved and there’s a more specific milestone in place even if LaFleur didn’t reference it on Wednesday. Murray will have his 2027 base salary of $19.5 million guaranteed if he’s on Arizona’s roster on March 15 and that’s not something the Cardinals will want to swallow as part of the price of parting ways with the quarterback.
That should leave release or trade as the two options as the Cardinals prepare to start over at both quarterback and head coach in 2026.
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