Is Time Running Out for the Arizona Cardinals Star Quarterback?

As the Arizona Cardinals' 2025 season prepares to kick off in New Orleans against the Saints on Sunday, the team aims to return to its winning ways by securing a road win to start the season. Leading the way for Arizona once again is quarterback Kyler Murray, who now enters year seven in the NFL. Since being drafted first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, Murray has not exactly lived up to expectations, but he also hasn’t been considered a bust, unlike his predecessor, Josh Rosen. Despite only being part of one winning season during his tenure, Murray still finds ways to be an effective player on the Cardinals’ offense, whether it's with his arm or his legs. However, with his play not translating to wins, Murray’s time in the desert might be running out, as this upcoming season will be crucial in telling whether he can find a way to stick around long term or end up being replaced in the near future. So that begs the question: Is time running out for Murray?

Before jumping into how Murray can potentially be effective this season, it's only right to do a quick briefing on his time with Arizona. After finishing his stellar collegiate career at Oklahoma in 2018, in which Murray obtained a plethora of national awards, headlined by winning the Heisman Trophy, he was highly expected to shine at the next level. However, while Murray has shown flashes of brilliance at times, he has also shown times of struggle. Luckily, coming in for Murray looked to be a smooth process, as he was selected by the team that had just hired his former collegiate coach at Texas A&M, Kliff Kingsbury, to be the next head coach of the Cardinals. While Murray and Kingsbury had only spent one season together at the collegiate level, the two had already built a bond that was ready to take flight at the professional level. 

Despite their inaugural season ending 5-10-1, Murray would go on to win the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award following a 3,722-yard, 20 passing touchdown and 544-yard, four rushing touchdown campaign. From there, Arizona would go on to see improvement in the next two seasons, highlighted by the 2021 season, where the Cardinals would make the postseason for the first time since 2015 with an 11-6 record. In these two seasons, Murray would also go on to earn Pro Bowl honors, as he was key to the resurgence of Arizona. While the Cardinals would go on to be eliminated by their division rival, the Los Angeles Rams, in the wildcard round, enough progress was made to show that Arizona was ready to compete for years to come. However, that would not end up being the case, as tensions between Murray and Kingsbury, along with Murray tearing his ACL in Week 14, led to a collapse in the 2022 season, as the Cardinals would finish 4-13, leading to Kingsbury being fired after the season. It was a surprise to see a team have that much success the season prior, just to completely fall apart the season after, but things just did not end up going to plan. Once Kingsbury was fired, questions began to circulate about who was really the one to blame for Arizona’s collapse. 

Following the firing of Kingsbury, the Cardinals pivoted to their next head coach by signing former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to be the next head coach in Arizona. In Gannon’s first season, the Cardinals would find themselves in a similar situation when Kingsbury was the head coach in his first season, as they would finish 4-13 for the second consecutive season. Murray wasn’t able to contribute as much as he would’ve liked, as he was rehabbing his ACL injury until Week 10, when Murray came back and led a game-winning drive against the Atlanta Falcons. While the season ended up being a bust, Murray’s reappearance late in the season gave hope for next season, as Murray would finish the 2023 season helping the team go 3-5 in the final eight games. As for the aforementioned next season, while Arizona would start slow with a 1-3 record, the team would go on to win five of the next six games, including a four-game winning streak heading into the bye. However, the break in play would not translate into further success, as the Cardinals would go on to finish the season 2-5, finishing 8-9 overall. Murray would finish the season playing in all 17 games, throwing for 3,851 yards on a 68.8% completion rating, on a 21-11 touchdown-interception ratio. On top of that, Murray would contribute five rushing touchdowns on 572 yards.

Now heading into this season, the question is whether the now-28-year-old quarterback can help lead this team once again to not only a positive record, but potentially a playoff appearance, or falter to another below .500 record and have doubts on whether he is the long-term answer. While it wouldn’t all fall upon Murray’s shoulders, the brunt of the work on offense will, as he attempts to help Arizona succeed once again. Luckily for Murray, he retains key weapons in tight end Trey McBride, who is coming off a 1,146-yard season, and second-year wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who, while he might not have had the rookie season he wanted, is primed for a breakout year this season after bulking up in the offseason. On top of that, the Cardinals also retain a strong running back room, spearheaded by James Conner, who has revived his career since joining Arizona back in 2021. With Father Time not slowing down anytime soon, the time is nigh for Murray to make his mark before potentially being replaced in the near future.