The 2025 season will be a potential turning point for the Arizona Cardinals.
Going on four seasons since they last made the playoffs, the Cardinals haven't won a playoff game since a 2015 divisional round victory over the Green Bay Packers, in a game that featured Carson Palmer and Aaron Rodgers as the starting signal callers...Palmer has been retired for eight-years, and Rodgers is currently a free agent and will turn 42 during the 2025 season.
The Cardinals 2019 first-overall pick, Kyler Murray is heading into his seventh-year in the league and with just one playoff appearance under his belt, it's showtime for the former Heisman Trophy winner.
However, in a prediction from Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr, the Cardinals, 2025 is a disastrous season for both Murray and the Cardinals, who decide to cash-in on their former number-one overall pick for as many draft assets as possible before the 2026 NFL Draft, next April.
"Murray’s dead cap number almost halves after this season. The former No. 1 pick is not a bad quarterback, but the Cardinals will likely conclude that the club has maximized Murray in Arizona and that it’s best to recoup some kind of draft asset before pivoting. Murray had a six-game stretch at the tail end of last season in which he failed to top 100 in quarterback rating, and he has played just one fully healthy season since 2020. While a lot of this is not Murray’s fault and is often the reality of playing for a team bad enough to qualify for the No. 1 pick, Arizona will prepare for larger-scale changes after finishing in the NFC West basement."
During his six-year NFL career, Murray has started 82 games, throwing 115 touchdowns to just 57 interceptions, while adding 3,020 yards and 31 touchdowns on the ground.
After this upcoming season, Murray will have a $53 million cap hit in 2026, and a $43.5 million hit in 2027 before his deal comes with a $46.3 million club option in 2028, his age 30 season.