Kyler Murray wants to play football. He’s said as much, and all the recent reports being circulated by NFL insiders indicate he’s strongly leaning toward declaring for the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Oakland Athletics are taking matters into their own hands to try and dissuade him from taking that course of action.
Bog Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports shared Sunday morning that the A’s have a contingent, led by president Billy Beane, meeting with Murray on Sunday. They hope to convince him to forego the NFL and play baseball for them this year.
As noted by Nightengale, the Athletics spent the ninth overall pick of the 2018 MLB Draft on Murray and handed him a contract worth $4.66 million (guaranteed) as a bonus.
Now, there is an opt-out option in that contract that would allow Murray to pursue an NFL career. So, it’s not as if the dual-sport star is inexorably tied to the A’s going forward — for a price, he can abandon that deal.
There’s another rumor that’s been circulated indicating one of the options on Murray’s table this coming year is to stay at Oklahoma and play for the A’s in the minor league. However, given his NFL draft stock probably couldn’t be higher than it is right now, that seems unlikely.
One of the most intriguing players to come out of college in a long time, Murray clearly has a huge decision to make. What he ultimately decides to do will be analyzed to death in the years to come, regardless.