A hot spot for dysfunction settled down a week before the draft started, with the Cardinals saying there’s “zero chance” quarterback Kyler Murray will be traded and Murray professing his commitment to the team.
Now that the draft has ended, the Cardinals will get to work on keeping Murray around, indefinitely.
Appearing with Adam Schein on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio, Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim made it clear that the Cardinals will now turn their attention to getting a deal done with their franchise quarterback.
“Anytime you’ve seen quarterbacks after their third year do their contract extensions, it’s generally been anywhere from about to July to September.” Keim said as to the timing of a contract for Murray. “It’s one of those things, when we get through free agency and the draft process, I mean it’s a lot of work we put into that. So now we can take a step back, take a breath, refocus, and try to get something done. Like I said, Kyler’s our long-term future, and there’s no doubt we wanna have him here in Arizona.”
The trade that brought receiver Marquis Hollywood Brown to the Cardinals definitely helped smooth things over. And things definitely needed smoothing. Although Keim tried to downplay the drama, it was real.
“It’s almost like I’m sitting here watching this, and it’s like I’m watching the Real Housewives of whatever those counties are,” Keim told Schein. “And I feel like I’m like watching the rumor mills and all this craziness, and [I ask myself] am I in this show or am I not in this show? Because I really wasn’t up to speed on any of it. And it’s like -- you know what? -- at the end of the day, you guys have a job to do in the media, which I totally respect. But, you know, to the degree that some people talk about this stuff, there’s so much misinformation out there, it’s crazy.”
In this case, there was no need for misinformation. The actual information supplied the narrative, from Murray’s social-media purge to his agent’s single-space manifesto to reports that Murray won’t play under his current deal, things got sideways.
We’ll soon right out whether things get straightened out. Although Keim offered a window of July through September, it makes sense to do it sooner. For both sides. Once training camp opens, the player and the team need to focus on the season.