Arizona Cardinals Holding Kyler Murray Hostage, Still Hoping For An Improbable Trade

Kyler Murray announced last week he'd been told by the Arizona Cardinals he would be released this offseason. He said his goodbyes, the media industrial complex reported the news, and the entire league knows the quarterback will be available.

But not yet.

Arizona Has Not Announced Release

The Arizona Cardinals, you see, are not planning to actually release Murray until the start of the NFL league year at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. 

And they have not announced those intentions.

And because of that, Murray and his representation cannot avail themselves of the league's two-day negotiating window that is currently underway. 

That means neither Murray nor his agents can talk to other teams. 

So, the Minnesota Vikings, among others cannot talk to Murray. Because the Cardinals have not yet released Murray or announced they are going to release Murray.

(Kyler Murray. Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Why Are Cardinals Holding Up Murray?

The Cardinals are holding Murray in a sort of hostage situation until they are not.

Mean? Uncool? Disrespectful?

Maybe.

Or maybe the Cardinals are just holding on to an asset other teams obviously would value, hoping against hope that maybe one of those teams weakens and tries to trade for Murray.

Yeah, that's quite unlikely to happen given Murray's contract situation that would carry over to a team that trades for him.

The Cardinals tried to trade Murray the past few weeks and haven't been able to do it. But they're not giving up. They're going to take it until the moment when they're no longer convinced something can happen.

And that probably won't be much earlier than the 4 p.m. start of the new league year on Wednesday.

Those Cardinals are so sly, right?

Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins throws it across the middle of the field vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in NFL Week 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Brett Davis-Imagn Images)

Other Teams Work Differently Than Arizona

This, by the way, is not the way other teams have decided to conduct business. 

The Atlanta Falcons plan to release Kirk Cousins. They told him and his agent as much. And general manager Ian Cunningham announced it on the radio and talked about it at the NFL combine.

"I did talk to Kirk and his representation, Mike McCartney, letting them know that we will release them on the first day of the league year," Cunningham said. "We felt that was out of respect for Kirk and Mike (and) his vision. For what he's done in his career, I owe that to him. We owe that to him, to allow him some clarity going into free agency."

So Cousins is out there now, free to talk to other teams.

Dolphins Did Tua A Solid

The Miami Dolphins announced a similar decision about Tua Tagovailoa on Monday. 

They announced he was being released. They thanked him for accepting the $93 million fully guaranteed money they gave him in their 2024 contract – $52.66 million of which they will pay him this year.

The Dolphins did right by Tagovailoa.

And Tua immediately was able to go into the free agency market and land a new gig. He will sign with the Falcons and join Michael Penix Jr. in that team's quarterback room.

The point is, the Dolphins who, like the Cardinals, tried to trade Tagovailoa, decided to wave the white flag and give the quarterback a chance to get out into the market and land a new job.

The Cardinals are so far declining to do this with Kyler Murray.