What can only be called a breakout year for 32-year-old QB Jacoby Brissett with the Arizona Cardinals has been one of the best stories of the 2025 season. But unfortunately, the Cardinals are only 3-9.
And there’s still that pesky Kyler Murray cloud hanging over the desert as well.
Murray was so uninspiring during his 2-3 run as starter this season that head coach Jonathan Gannon decided to go with a career backup in Brissett as his starter instead.
Murray has had a foot issue for much of the season, but the team made it clear Brissett was the guy for 2025 even if Murray had been healthy.
The former Rookie of the Year has now been ruled out for the remainder of the season with that foot injury. When asked if he’d welcome Murray back to the starting role in 2026 when he was back to full health, Gannon was very noncommittal. He said he was solely focused on their Week 14 opponent, the Los Angeles Rams.
Reporter: "Do you expect Kyler Murray to be your QB next year?"
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 5, 2025
Jonathan Gannon: "I'm worried about the Rams right now, honestly."
(🎥 @AZCardinals) https://t.co/IlBjCyO8Bn pic.twitter.com/bHiUPIzDkd
Gannon did not like the question, and he is clearly not excited about the prospect of Murray re-entering the fold next season.
But whether Gannon wants him or not—and it might not matter, as Gannon is on the hot seat himself after a 15-31 record over the last three years—the Cardinals might be stuck with Murray.
Kyler Murray’s contract with the Cardinals runs through 2028
After a 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year trophy and Pro Bowl nods in 2020 and 2021, the Cardinals were ready to go all in on Kyler Murray. They thought they would be returning to the golden age of Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner.
So they gave him a five-year, $230 million deal that included $160 million in guaranteed money.
But since then Murray has been unrecognizable. He's gone 16-25 as a starter while missing 22 games overall from 2022-2025. He has not led the Cardinals back to the playoffs since 2021.
There has been a clear drop-off in play from the former Heisman Trophy winner. But the Cardinals can’t get out of the deal for a while. It runs through 2028, when there will be a team option that is almost certainly not going to be picked up.
As ESPN’s Dan Graziano broke down, Murray’s $36.8 million salary in 2026 is fully guaranteed. His 2027 money is guaranteed too if he’s on the team on the fifth day of the league year next March.
That means they’ll have to find a willing trade partner, which might not seem too difficult considering the success second-chance QBs have had recently. But that salary will be a sticking point, and they may have to pay a portion themselves.
Cutting Murray would be a tough pill to swallow. They would have to pay around $90 million just to get him to leave.
Gannon and company better find a desperate, QB-needy team. Or else they could be staring at another year of Kyler Murray in the desert. At least.