Kyler Murray’s murky Cardinals future comes into spotlight as big $58M question looms

The Cardinals have another big Kyler Murray decision on their hands.

After Arizona placed the veteran quarterback on injured reserve Wednesday with a foot injury he suffered in Week 5, even more questions have been raised about his future with the team.

While head coach Jonathan Gannon has said the injury is not season-ending and Murray has a chance to return, the Cardinals still have to decide if they want him as a quarterback on their roster going forward — or if they want to dump him.

Sources told ESPN they are expecting the parties to part ways, with one telling the outlet that “a separation is imminent.”

NFL.com added Saturday that the team doesn’t have any answers yet on his future, but there will be conversations about whether he’ll remain in Arizona.

Murray is guaranteed $36.835 million next year and he is owed $19.5 million guaranteed in 2027 if the Cardinals have him on their roster on the fifth day of the new league year in March,

If the Cardinals release Murray ahead of June 1, they would take a $57.7 million dead cap hit.

If they wait until after that date, the dead money would spread across two years — $50.5 million in 2026 and $7.2 million in 2027, ESPN reported.

A Murray trade would result in $35.3 million in cap savings and leave behind $17.9 million in dead money for the Cardinals.

Murray has been with Arizona since he was selected as the No.1 overall pick in 2019 out of Texas A&M.

Since then, Arizona has only seen one winning season (11-6) and a singular playoff trip in 2021, when they lost in the wild-card round to the Rams.

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Being on IR and unable to play at least the next few weeks, it will be tough for Murray to sell that he is worth a roster spot — and there had already been talk that the Cardinals quietly benched him.

His first chance to return would be in their Week 14 matchup against the Rams on Dec. 7, and Gannon is hopeful Murray will be ready.

“I really do [hope that happens],” Gannon said Wednesday. “We got a lot of ball to play, and one day at a time. And where he sits right now is he’s got to pour into his health bucket and get ready to get healthy.”

After suffering a mid-foot sprain, the 28-year-old was replaced by Jacoby Brissett, who will continue to be the Cardinals’ starter.

Over the last three games, Brissett has thrown for 860 yards, six touchdowns and one interception as the Cardinals have gone 1-2.

Murray, who is 2-3 as a starter this year, has an 88.6 quarterback rating.

“Jacoby does his job, takes it one day at a time, prepares when he wasn’t the starter, prepares to be the starter,” Gannon said. “He knows his role can change, and now he’s going to prepare the same way.”