2024-01-02 23:41:38
The most intriguing storyline for much of the Arizona Cardinals‘ 2023 season centered on the future of quarterback Kyler Murray. The former #1 overall pick missed the season’s first nine games as he finished rehabbing an ACL injury suffered in December 2022, and Arizona stumbled to a 1-8 start under a new regime of head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Ossenfort Mountains — leading to intense speculation that the pair would try to move on from Murray before his mammoth five-year, $230 million extension kicked in.
But Murray has won over Gannon and Ossenfort with his performances since returning from injury in Week 10. He has led the Cardinals to three wins in seven games — including a shocking upset of the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon — and Gannon on Tuesday ended all speculation about the quarterback’s future in the desert.
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Gannon looking forward to the future with Murray
During his weekly appearance on “Burns & Gambo” in PhoenixGannon said he had no doubts that Murray would be the Cardinals’ QB1 in 2024, calling him Arizona’s “franchise quarterback” as his extension to 2028 begins.
Gannon’s comments come in the wake of Murray’s most impressive performance yet since he returned from his knee injury. Murray completed 25 of his 31 pass attempts against the Eagles and threw three touchdown passes while accounting for 256 total yards — all without top receiver Hollywood Brownwho is on injured reserve with a heel injury.
The upset win in Philadelphia was an encouraging step forward for a Cardinals franchise attempting to instill a new culture after an awful 2022 campaign that resulted in the departures of longtime general manager Steve Keim and head coach Cliff Kingsbury. The next step is nailing the 2024 NFL Draftwhere Arizona will be picking early and often.
Getting Murray some help through the draft
The Cardinals own six of the first 81 picks in the 2024 draftincluding two first-round selections — one of which is expected to land somewhere in the top five. If Arizona (4-12) loses to the Seattle Seahawks in week 18, it is guaranteed to pick no lower than fourth overall — where first-year GM Ossenfort should be able to draft a top prospect at wide receiver, giving Murray a new weapon in the form of LSU‘s Malik Nabers, Washington‘s Rome Odunzeor Ohio State’s prized wideout Marvin Harrison Jr.
Ossenfort will also be focused on shoring up the Cardinals’ weak depth at cornerback and bolstering the offensive and defensive lines with his bevy of picks in the first two days of the draft. This is a lot of needs for a rebuilding franchise, but having the star quarterback in place gives Arizona a leg up on teams in a similar position.
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