Kyler Murray: Winners and Losers from QB’s new contract

The Arizona Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray got into an agreement for a contract extension worth $231M over the next five years, which makes him the second-highest paid quarterback in the league, just below Aaron Rodgers.

As with everything in the NFL, the extension signed by Kyler Murray will have deeper effects, not only for the quarterback and the team, but for the league as a whole.

Let’s analyze the winners and losers from the new contract of Kyler Murray:

Winners:

Kyler Murray: Murray got what he wanted: a major contract extension to continue the trend of young quarterbacks surpassing the most recent extension – although none of these guys who recently signed new deals were able to eclipse Aaron Rodgers’ $50M per year yet. He now has long-term security, a boatload of guaranteed money and he can stop his offseason dramas and focus only on winning.

Lamar Jackson: We just talked about young quarterbacks signing big contract extensions, and the next name on the list is Lamar Jackson – Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Kyler Murray all got their wishes, while Lamar and the Ravens are still in negotiations. With Murray’s new deal serving as a baseline in numbers, Jackson’s new deal will probably make him the second-highest paid quarterback in the league, losing to Rodgers only. There’s no way Lamar earns less than Kyler being a better, most-proved player.

Kliff Kingsbury: Kliff was in the middle of some offseason drama between his quarterback and his organization, and there was nothing he could do to resolve the situation, which was becoming a bigger distraction than what he wanted in a year where he’s under pressure in his job. With Murray signing a new deal, everybody can move on and just focus on football, which should help Kingsbury as well – the offense was moving really well last year before Murray got hurt.

Marquise Brown: Murray not only is one of Brown’s best friends, but he has a cannon for an arm, and Brown works better as a deep threat. These two guys should continue this partnership for a long time after ‘Hollywood’ was traded to Arizona as their strengths complement each other.

Losers:

Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals had basically no option but to pay Murray, even though he hasn’t proven yet that he deserves the big numbers from this new contract. Arizona wouldn’t risk losing their franchise quarterback for free, but they knew he was pushing hard to get a new deal and things would only get uglier from here. There will be no distractions anymore, but salary-wise, this move doesn’t look good for the franchise.

Offensive linemen: D.J. Humphries, Justin Pugh and Rodney Hudson are all set to become free agents in 2023. With Murray’s contract money coming into the books, it will be tough for the franchise to negotiate new deals with them. It’s unlikely that they’ll all be back after this season.

Baltimore Ravens: It’s not exactly new information for the Ravens, but now that the baseline is set for Lamar’s new contract, they’ll have to pay him at least $46,5M to tie him for the long-term. Jackson is a much better quarterback than Murray, though, so Baltimore won’t feel upset in giving their quarterback a big extension like Arizona is feeling right now.

Quarterback market, again: If you need to sign your quarterback to a new deal, buckle up: things aren’t going to be easy from here with the numbers going up after each extension. Every new deal seems to set a new benchmark; Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, from the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Chargers, are probably feeling really good about their extensions next season.

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