Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray will begin 2023 on the reserve/PUP list, which will require him to miss at least the first four games of the season. The bigger surprise is that Colt McCoy, who spent the past two seasons as Murray’s backup in Arizona, has been released, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Murray, of course, is the club’s franchise passer, and he signed a massive contract extension last July. But he suffered an ACL tear and a torn meniscus late in the 2022 season, and while there was some initial optimism that he would be cleared for Week 1 of the upcoming campaign, it had become increasingly apparent that would not be the case. As Arizona is clearly in rebuild mode — and perhaps in line for the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 draft — it simply does not make sense for the team to rush Murray back onto the field.
Even after the recent trade that brought Josh Dobbs to the desert, the expectation was that McCoy would open the season as the Cardinals’ starting signal-caller, with Dobbs serving as his backup and fifth-round rookie Clayton Tune as the third-stringer. On the other hand, new Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing worked as the Browns’ quarterbacks coach in 2022, when Dobbs was on the Cleveland roster, so there is some familiarity there. Additionally, McCoy’s 2022 season was cut short due to a concussion, and he spent time on IR with a calf injury prior to that. An elbow problem sidelined McCoy at the outset of this year’s offseason program.
The McCoy release creates $1.5MM of cap space for the Cardinals while leaving the club with a dead money charge of $3.5MM, as Mike Jurecki of Arizona Football Daily observes. As such, it seems clear that the move was not financially motivated and was instead designed to give younger players who might have longer futures with the team more of an opportunity.
McCoy, who will turn 37 next month, contemplated retirement this offseason. It is now fair to wonder if he will hang up the cleats or search for another opportunity to extend his playing career. The Texas product has started 36 games in the NFL, and though his 11-25 record as a starter is obviously uninspiring, he has had stretches of quality play. In 2021, for instance, he started three games in relief of an injured Murray and went 2-1 while completing 74.7% of his passes for three TDs against one interception.
the tank job is clear
Tune may give the cardinals a better shot at winning than McCoy would’ve.
No, He won’t
and that’s why you trade for Dobbs
Wow. Not that McCoy is that great anymore, but Dobbs is pretty bad. I mean, very bad. I’m not sure that he’s a better starter than Tune. The Cards must really be tanking, or are planning to actually start Tune to let him develop a little in Murray’s absence.
Arizona making it official that they are tanking for Caleb Williams.
Even so, Caleb Williams isn’t certain to come out next year. Besides they have all that money invested in Murray.
That was a mistake from the start, and I suspect the organization was split on it.
Its really difficult to get out of with the bonus structure being late, and drafting another QB essentially wastes the QB rookie contract window.
But I think its still worth considering for the most important position in the NFL.
I dont think they will draft a QB, bc it the optics look really bad,instead they’re all tying their jobs to an iffy QB like Murray.
Even the film study clause that was in the contract was dubious.
Arizona’s ceiling for the foreseeable future is mediocre. Their floor is top perennial top 5 pick.
Tanking doesn’t necessarily have to be for a QB (interesting to jump from one Lincoln Riley product to another, isn’t it?). I was partly kidding earlier when I brought it up, but the Cards could also be using this year as evaluative to see where they want to build going forward. That would be tanking, since they’re attempting to diagnose rather than win, but it wouldn’t necessarily be for a specific player. Someone else REALLY wanting Caleb Williams would be just as good to Arizona, especially if they end up with the 1st overall pick and a laundry list of needs to fill.
It’s ridiculous that Arizona isn’t trying to camouflage their intent to be the ‘worst team in the nfl’.
Doubt the injured munchkin will be in any hurry to return from injury as he’s an ‘injury waiting to happen’. Drafting running backs as your QB makes little sense but that seems to be a Bidwell philosophy
The Bidwell traveling road show couldn’t succeed in Chicago, St. Louis or Arizona, so will the next stop be Hawaii?
His dog and pony show could work in the NCAA… and Hawaii showed success under June Jones.
Age Discrimination !!
This franchise has a new GM, Head Coach, a overpaid nonfunctional QB that won’t play this year. McCoy was not going to win them 4 games this year. This team with Murray healthy on this roster would have been lucky to win 6 games. This team has not enough talent this year to be a average team, so if this is tanking so be it.
Colt, the Bills are on line 1…
Lions may pick up McCoy just to add some depth to that QB room.
Colt McCoy gets injured within two or three games if he starts. Better to get him and his salary off the roster before that happens.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Arizona was 2-0 when Dallas visits State Farm Stadium in Week 3.
I wouldn’t mind having Colt McCoy as a backup for the Rams!!
Bring him in to be the 3rd QB for the Cowboys.
My landing spots for McCoy:
Bengals
Patriots
Vikings
Buccaneers
Steelers
May not be able to wipe the smile off CM’s face tonight..just a guess. A bit of a dumpster fire this outfit…
Send Baby Legs to ATL before you draft Caleb
Trade Baby Legs to ATL then draft a football player at QB (Caleb).
You’ll have to eat a lot of that ridiculous contract salary but you made that bed without a gun to your head so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Cardinals should sign Jeff Saturday to be their starting QB. Make it even more obvious they want to go 0-17 to get the #1 pick in 2024.
There has to be a limit to how many first-round QBs a franchise can destroy within ten years. Two strikes and you sit for a while…
I would agree, but if Arizona gets that pick, trading it might be more valuable than drafting yet another QB. There’s no guarantee that Williams lives up to expectations as is, but beyond that, the Cardinals have a veritable ton of needs to fill and a roster that’s already being cleansed of former regime picks.
Murray might not be worth the money, but he’s still booked up on a large deal. Arizona may just be planning on using him for a year or two while they get pieces and draft capitol in place before making a decision at QB (since Keim already decided that for them). A slew of high level picks for the first overall choice in 2024 could be a good piece of that plan.
Lol
You kind of have to feel for Marquise Brown.
Poor guy probably thought the trade from Baltimore to Arizona would help his career.
Looks like the NFL needs to institute a draft lottery.
Something special is happening in the desert.
maybe cards will claim Will Grier
#CrusadeForCaleb begins
They just had to free up a roster spot so they can go sign Josh Rosen.
It’s obvious from the postings that no one has a clue what, or IF, the Cards have a ‘plan’ for the future. Management here is like there’s an angry divorce happening and every keepsake gets sold at a garage sale for nothing but spite. Banking draft picks for the next ‘new’ coach/GM to mishandle.
Teams that need new owners –
Bears
Browns
Cards
Falcons
Giants
Indy
Raiders
Any I missed?
Texans