NFL Combine To Set Stage For Trades Or Releases Of Murray, Tagovailoa And Cousins

The NFL's annual chase for veteran quarterbacks begins when the Indianapolis Scouting Combine opens on Tuesday and sets the stage for general managers, coaches and agents to scheme how to match starters with new teams.

This year's scheming around Indianapolis comes with the added hope that maybe there's a big prize at the end of the exercise, because last year the Seattle Seahawks began to gather information that led to them trading their starting quarterback Geno Smith and feeling out new starter Sam Darnold's free agency price point at the Combine.

And we all know how that turned out for the Seahawks.

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

Teams At Combine Look For Seahawks Magic

This year, teams will be kicking the proverbial tires on at least five potential starting quarterbacks they hope could be the next Darnold – a castoff player who failed at multiple NFL stops but lifted his latest team to a championship.  

The quarterbacks expected to be on the trade market in Indy despite the fact the trading period doesn't begin until 4 p.m. (ET) on March 11:

• Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals.
• Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins.
• Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons.
• Smith, who is about to be replaced by the Raiders.
• Justin Fields of the New York Jets.

All of those players are under contract for the 2026 season with their current clubs. Teams will obviously also look to free agents such as Daniel Jones, Malik Willis, Trey Lance and Aaron Rodgers if he decides to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But the clubs holding 2025 starters they want to dispatch also will initiate trade talks for those quarterbacks. And several of those players will be released by their clubs if trade conversations prove fruitless.

And the trade talks proving fruitless is a significant possibility.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. (Getty Images)

Tua, Murray Trades Difficult

It will be very, very, very, very difficult, for example, for the Miami Dolphins to trade Tua Tagovailoa. Indeed, it might take some sort of front office malpractice by another club to trade for Miami's former starter.

More realistically, Murray is one player that could interest a couple of teams. It's understandable if some team believes the Cardinals, on their third head coach since Murray was drafted in 2019, are going to reset at quarterback under Mike LaFleur. 

So they might talk to the Cardinals about a trade, probably hoping Murray is released instead.

The wisest thing for the Cardinals might be to offer Murray in trade, and if no club bites, simply keep the 28-year-old quarterback at least one more year.

Whatever happens, the team acquiring (or keeping) Murray gets a huge question mark.

Murray's Best Spot Might Be Arizona

Murray is injury-prone. He's played only one full season since 2020. 

The fact Murray suffered a torn ACL in 2022 and a foot injury that kept him out of all but five games last year, calls into question whether a player that relies on his scrambling to win games is diminished.

Then there are the financial problems. 

Cutting Murray this year is a $54.7 million dead cap nightmare for Arizona. Trading him is a nightmare for any team taking on his current contract.

The Cardinals might study the options and decide cutting Murray or keeping are their only two options because most teams cannot take on the player's contract.  And, of those two choices, Arizona might decide keeping Murray this year and kicking the QB can down the road to 2027 would make most sense.

So why is a trade difficult? The club that typically gets connected to Murray is the Minnesota Vikings. But the Vikings cannot trade for that contract because they're already over the $301.2 million cap and have to rework some deals or cut some players to be under that mark by March 11. 

Kyler Murray. (Credit: Getty Images)

Jets A Darkhorse Option For Murray

Plus, has anyone asked the question how the Vikings overcome J.J. McCarthy's injury issues by adding another injury-prone QB?

The Jets, who may not be in a spot to land an immediate starter in the draft despite holding the No. 2 overall pick, might be a darkhorse team in a Murray trade scenario. After a 3-14 first season that forced him to revamp the coaching staff, head coach Aaron Glenn needs to win in 2026 to keep his job.

And, yes, the Jets have plenty of cap space for such a move. They could gamble on Murray and start using their draft picks to build around him.

The Jets, by the way, will be moving on from Justin Fields, who got thrown under the bus by ownership last year, but is in the final year of his contract.

The Vikings might be in play for Cousins when he's released by the Atlanta Falcons. We say released because last month, the Falcons and Cousins agreed to a contract renegotiation that defers $32.9 million of base salary from 2026 to 2027, in exchange for adding a March 13 vesting guarantee on the entirety of the $67.9 million now due in 2027.

Falcons Will Cut Kirk Cousins

The Falcons want to avoid the full amount from vesting, so they will be cutting Cousins before March 13.

And, yes, Cousins played in Minnesota. A return makes sense in the abstract, but again, only if Cousins isn't going to expect a huge contract because you just got done reading the Vikings have salary cap issues.

Cousins is looking for a chance to compete for a starting job. But in the best case, he would like to avoid a team with a first-round pick in the quarterback room because he knows teams defer to those younger players. And that's what caused him to want out of Atlanta after they drafted Michael Penix Jr.

So teams like the Vikings or Las Vegas, which is expected to draft Fernando Mendoza, may give Cousins pause.

The Jets? Cousins is not exactly a strong-armed quarterback meant for venues like New England, Buffalo and MetLife Stadium in the winter. But the Jets have done more curious things in the past. 

The Dolphins, already undergoing a significant reset,  have been calling around the NFL trying to weigh trade interest in Tagovailoa. That doesn't mean they are absolutely getting rid of the quarterback, but the due diligence is part of the process. If the club can find takers, that's the direction this is going to go.

(Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)

Tua Guarantee Makes Trade Unlikely

The Dolphins aren't going to find a team willing to take on the $54 million guaranteed salary Tagovailoa is owed in 2026. Even if the Dolphins offer to pay a significant portion of that amount, the chances of a trade working for either team are slim because at some point the Dolphins would want something in return for a player whose game tape fell off the table last season.

If the Dolphins cannot find a team willing to trade for the player coming off a rough 2025 season in which he was benched, finished 25th in passer rating and second in interceptions with 15, then the decision is either release him or, gulp, keep him.

Tagovailoa said at the end of last season he would welcome a change of scenery.

And a change of scenery is what multiple starting quarterbacks still contractually tied to clubs expect this offseason.