The Arizona Cardinals had a complicated 2023 season, to say the least. Arizona played the first half of this season without QB Kyler Murray. Things got so bad for the Cardinals that many fans speculated that they were tanking in order to draft QB Caleb Williams.
However, Murray eventually returned and allowed the Cardinals to finish the season respectively. Because of this, it appeared that Murray was without a doubt the quarterback moving forward for Arizona. However, the Cardinals’ endorsement of Murray follows a concerning pattern.
Arizona Cardinals Endorse Kyler Murray
This morning, the Arizona Cardinals tweeted a graphic with the caption “our franchise QB” to describe Kyler Murray. He had 1,799 passing yards and 10 touchdown passes in eight games last season. So, this should be a positive sign that the Cardinals are stable at the quarterback position, right? Well, not so fast.
Concerning Pattern
Cardinals Rams
The Murray post is not the first time that the Cardinals endorsed a quarterback of theirs. Several fans and sports media accounts reminded the Cardinals that they have done this before with poor results. Looking back, there is one notable example that aged terribly.
That example is Josh Rosen. Arizona drafted him in 2018 and he had a poor rookie season. When there was speculation as to whether the Cardinals would stick with him that offseason, Arizona tweeted this in support of Rosen. However, this aged poorly, as the Cardinals drafted Murray and traded Rosen less than three months later.
Arizona Cardinals Moving Forward
Right now, the Cardinals hold the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, the three teams in front of Arizona all have strong cases to draft a quarterback. With that in mind, there are incentives for Murray and the Cardinals to run it back after finishing strongly in 2023.
On the surface, the Cardinals’ social media team posting the above tweet about Murray should be a strong sign that Murray has nothing to worry about moving forward. However, history has shown that this social media team has jumped the gun before when it comes to “franchise” quarterbacks. This pattern is a reminder that social media teams do not tend to be involved in conversations with general managers and head coaches. As a result, we should take this tweet about Murray with a grain of salt.
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