Arizona Cardinals Make Big Decision on Quarterback Kyler Murray Before 2023 Season Begins

The Arizona Cardinals just made a big move on their starting quarterback with more than a week before the start of the 2023 NFL season. This week the Cardinals announced that Kyler Murray will be on the team's physically unable to perform list (PUP), which means he will miss at least the first four games of the season. Once Murray is activated, he will have 21 days to practice and be put on the active roster, or he will spend the entire year on the PUP list. 

Murray injured his right knee during Week 14 last season and had surgery in January. The 26-year-old said he wanted to be ready to go for the season opener. He then said he didn't want to miss any time but wasn't sure how much practice he needed before he was ready to battle with his teammates. 

"I don't think it's anything he didn't show us," Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said, per ESPN. "I think it was just looking at OTAs and then training camp and the games and the full body of work, we just feel like this is the best way to go."  

"I wouldn't want to go out there and hurt the team, or hurt myself," Murray said in late July. "The advice I've gotten from a lot of people around me is, obviously, to go when you are ready. Don't feel pressured to come back because of this situation or that situation. I feel when that time comes, I'll know."  

Murray was selected by the Cardinals No. 1 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019 after throwing for 3,722 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 544 yards and four touchdowns. Murray was also been selected to the Pro Bowl the last two years and led the Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021, their first playoff appearance since the 2015 season when they reached the NFC Championship game. 

In July 2022, Murray signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension with the Cardinals. "This is where I want to be, I made that clear," Murray said at the time. "Moreso the bad days I was talking about was the negativity and taking the heat in social media and all that stuff, which, I give (agent Erik Burkhardt) a little crap for because he put a lot of it on me."