It would be a colossal understatement to say the Arizona Cardinals’ 4-13 season turned out to be a frustrating, underwhelming campaign following an offseason that saw confidence-inducing contract extensions for head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim, both of whom were dismissed on “Black Monday.”
With two significant dominoes being shown the door so soon after Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill had doled out said extensions, it made perfect logical sense to give franchise quarterback Kyler Murray — who also signed a massive contract in the offseason — a needed boost of confidence in letting it be clearly known that his opinion matters.
Regardless of what might be said behind closed doors at the Cardinals team facility, letting Murray know he’s still “The Guy” when it comes to who will become his next head coach was a crucial play in keeping the roof on the place.
For the Cardinals to get this out into the news, and do it so quickly, was especially important for this franchise when you take into consideration the infamous “homework” language that was placed into Murray’s contract extension that understandably ruffled the feathers of the star quarterback.
When that news made its way into the media and all the talking heads had fresh meat to feed off of, it sure felt like the 2022 season might be an uneasy, toxic situation from there on out, as was eventually described as such in late December.
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Cardinals’ belief in Kyler Murray could propel Arizona’s QB
While Kyler Murray continues to rehab the torn ACL that he suffered in Week 13 against the New England Patriots, there’s a possibility he’s ready for the start of the 2023 season.
Perhaps today’s departures were music to Murray’s ears, knowing he would now be heading into a truly fresh start with all that unnecessary drama behind him.
Now that he’s well aware of his inclusion in the key decision-making of who will be calling the shots on the sideline next season, it might prove to inspire a reinvigorated and focused version of Murray that many of us thought we might see before this past season so quickly went off the rails.
