A day after head coach Jonathan Gannon announced Jacoby Brissett as the Cardinals' starting quarterback for Week 10, Kyler Murray landed on injured reserve due to a lingering foot injury.
In a span of 24 hours, the entire landscape of Arizona's QB situation changed for the foreseeable future.
Suddenly, this question was a fair one: Has Murray played his last down for Arizona?
Sources involved in the situation don't have a clear conclusion and the full answer will come in stages: first weeks and then months. But either way, there will be many conversations after the 2025 season centered around whether to move on from Murray in the offseason.
If the Cardinals want to move on, and based on the events of this week it seems more likely than not, they have several avenues to pursue that. Murray could be released or traded in March, becoming a bridge QB for a contender.
What's obvious is Brissett, coming off consecutive starts with at least a 110 passer rating, is the starter and Murray won't play for at least the next four weeks while on injured reserve. What about the rest of it?
First, the injury part of it: Sources say Murray is dealing with a mid-foot sprain in the area of a Lisfranc injury -- while not actually being a Lisfranc injury. It's ligament partial tear -- otherwise known as a sprain -- but there are no broken bones and there is no dislocation. There is still edema (swelling caused by too much fluid trapped in the body's tissues, according to the Mayo Clinic).
The original diagnosis was 3-4 weeks, which is why Arizona did not initially place Murray on IR. But after four weeks, Murray still isn't 100%, and there remains some risk of reinjury.
Tests still show there is an injury that has not fully healed, sources say. Likely, two additional weeks would have put Murray in a position to play free and like himself, potentially more. If he was the starter and this Sunday's matchup against the Seahawks was a playoff game, perhaps he might be on the field. But that is not the situation.
So Murray will rest and rehab for four weeks, eligible to return Dec. 7 against the Rams (Week 14). And at that point, whether or not he comes off IR will be discussed.
If Brissett is still balling, perhaps not. If Brissett suffers an injury and the team is in the playoff hunt, perhaps it's Murray to the rescue. If there is nothing to play for, maybe the answer is no. There are all sorts of answers in between that can be hashed out over the next few weeks.
As for the offseason, it's an open question about whether Murray returns. The former No. 1 overall pick signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract in July of 2022, locking him in with Arizona for the long-term. Through this season, he'll have earned $140.5 million of it, with another $36.835 million fully guaranteed for 2026.
If they cut him, they'll be on the hook for all of it. Additionally, there is a deadline because if he's on the roster on the fifth day of the league year this March, $19.5 million in 2027 becomes fully guaranteed (a year early, essentially).
Said simply, the Cardinals must cut him before March to not be on the hook for any of his 2027 salary. A release triggers a $57.7 million cap hit that can be split up between 2026 and 2027, while a trade triggers a manageable $17.9 million dead cap hit but saves $35.3 million.
It's all expensive.
And a trade would no doubt be better for the Cardinals, escaping some money but also meaning they'd have to find another starter. That said, a trade would take coordination between three parties (Arizona, Murray and an interested team), an agreement that the Cardinals would take on some or all the money and then a mutually agreed upon trade partner. It's possible. But it has proven in the past to be a challenge with so many moving parts.
From Murray's side, being released ahead of the 2026 league year -- if he's not going to be a member of the Cardinals -- is preferable because his deal will be offset, similar to Russell Wilson's recent situation with the Steelers. He'll be able to sign with a team at the minimum, making Murray an incredible value for a playoff-ready team without a QB.
With a variety of factors up in the air, Murray's future will be a huge topic of discussion this offseason.
