Murray on Contract Signing :'This is Just the Start'
On Thursday, the offseason long negotiations between the Arizona Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray came to an end. The organization inked a five-year extension for $230.5 million, making the 24 year old one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL.
Murray spoke to the media on Friday at the team's training facility regarding his lucrative contract. Despite the big pay day, Murray made it clear this was just the beginning of what's to come for him and the Cardinals.
“I personally feel like this is just a start,” Murray said. “I feel like the past three years, we've been able to do a lot of great things; all we've done is go up. I've done a lot of great individual things. But again, for me, the goal is to win championships."
The new contract will keep Murray in Arizona through the 2028 season and with head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim both receiving extensions earlier this offseason, the journey for the team is truly on a new path. One that the organization is trusting in Murray to help lead.
“It's a blessing,” Murray said. “I'm so grateful and honored for the confidence that they've shown in me and the faith that they showed me.”
Attending the press conference was Murray's father, Kevin, and his mother, Missy, along with their dog Swoosh. Along with his family, his agent Erik Burkhardt watched from the audience as well as Kingsbury
“This is big, because I get to take care of the people that took care of me all my life,” Murray said. “Being able to give back to the people that love me, supported me, and the people that are in need of things that I had growing up, so that's a big part for me.”
Sitting beside Murray was Keim, who led the effort to reach a deal this offseason. And the saga for Murray's new contract began immediately following the end of last season.
A few weeks after the Cardinals' disappointing wild-card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Murray unfollowed the team on Instagram and Twitter and scrubbed his social media accounts of anything related to the franchise. From there the saga included Burkhardt's lengthy ALL-CAPS statement, Murray not showing up for some OTAs, and Keim standing by the deal getting done this summer.
Behind the scenes, Keim said that he and Burkhardt were in constant talks and that he and Kingsbury even visited Murray's family to understand the expectations of both the organization and the player.
Because of his relationship with Burkhardt (who also represents Kingsbury) and dialogue with Murray's family, Keim said he never had a doubt about an agreement being reached.
“I think the two goals at hand all along were to do the best deal for the player, which I think we did, and the best deal for the organization to help us build around Kyler moving forward, which I think we did,” Keim said.
For the most part, Murray stayed quiet during the ongoing negotiations. His silence was at times perceived as a sign of his disdain toward the team and criticism was thrown his way during the offseason. His absence during two weeks of the team's OTAs didn’t help to diminish the negative vibes that Murray endured.
“To sit there and take all the shots is what it is. But I understood this was part of the business, I let them take care of what they need to take care of,” Murray said.
Murray is now the second highest paid quarterback in average salary per year. The accomplishment doesn’t stop Murray from realizing that improvements are still needed to take the Cardinals to the next level.
“As a whole, just attention to detail when it comes down to November and December,” Murray said when asked specifically what he feels he has to do to get better. “I think in the past, we've kind of gotten away with doing things not the right way, and then it ends up catching up with us."
Signing the new deal begins a new era for Murray in the desert, but it most likely ends the chances that Murray would ever step on a baseball diamond in the near future. A talented baseball player for the Oklahoma Sooners, Murray was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2018, but opted to play football.
When asked if this means his baseball days are over, Murray simply said he is where he wants to be, but Keim may have given the more honest response.
“Did you guys see the payroll of the Oakland A's versus this contract? Enough said,” Keim said. That was in reference to Murray's $46.1 million average per year in new money and the A's total payroll this year of around $48 million.
The near future looks bright for the Cardinals, but with training camp firing up next week it's time to get back to work. Backup quarterback Colt McCoy, who was at the press conference, kept Murray on his toes when he asked him if he would be at walk-throughs tomorrow after saying he liked Murray's blue suit.
The $230.5 million quarterback smiled and said, “I’ll be there.”
