Kyler Murray will become an NFL free agent once the Arizona Cardinals release him next week. His options clearly extend beyond football.
Although Murray has spent the past seven years in the NFL, the Athletics retained his rights in baseball after selecting him with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. On Wednesday, A’s general manager David Forst said the door remains open for Murray to return to the sport, via MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos:
“Kyler is an elite quarterback in the NFL and I believe he has a lot of opportunities to continue his football career,” Foster told MLB.com on Wednesday. “That being said, he and his baseball representatives know that we are always open to him exploring a return to baseball with the A’s should that day come.”
At one point, Murray’s plan was to play one more season of college football at Oklahoma State and then play baseball full-time with the A’s. This made sense at the time, as Murray wasn’t considered an elite player in the NFL, primarily due to his size. The club has paid him a signing bonus of US$4.66 million and is awaiting his arrival.
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There’s just one hiccup with this plan: Murray’s final season of college football went better than anyone expected, winning the Heisman Trophy and being considered the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Few were surprised when he announced he was giving up his A’s signing bonus and entering the NFL, where the Cardinals offered him a $35.2 million rookie contract.
Now we are here.
Kyler Murray may continue to pursue a career in football. (Photo by Stacey Revere/Getty Images)
(Stacey Revere via Getty Images)
We should probably make this clear: The odds of Murray beating Foster at that open door are slim to none, at least at this moment. It’s likely Foster knew this and was being diplomatic.
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Here are the two doors Murray theoretically faces:
A) Stay in the NFL and hope a team still views you as a starter and a secondary option in a senior backup role. If we’re looking for compensation here, consider the $14 million Daniel Jones received from the Indianapolis Colts last offseason to (successfully) compete with Anthony Richardson for the starting job.
B) Back in MLB, the A’s might give you some old signing bonus. Starting in the minor leagues at age 28 will get you less than the average NFL practice squad player and hopefully make it to the major leagues in a few years, at which point you’ll have three years out of salary arbitration and at least six years of free agency.
Unless Murray really real If you want to play baseball again, the choice is obvious.
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Still, moments like this serve as an interesting reminder that in a draft in which a total of 14 future All-Stars were selected, the Athletics did use the top 10 players and then moved on from them in a way that didn’t even give them draft compensation. That includes Tarik Skubal, Cal Raleigh and Steven Kwan, although those players were all drafted in the third round or later.
