Analyst: Cardinals, Kyler Murray in 'QB Purgatory'

The Arizona Cardinals are in an odd situation with Kyler Murray, according to CBS Sports.

Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals are fairly set on quarterback Kyler Murray being their guy for the future.

That's a sentiment carried from the front office - to the coaching staff - down to the roster itself.

Outside of the facility and on a national media scale, there's still some questions.

CBS Sports listed seven teams who are in "quarterback purgatory" with questions marks at the position moving forward into 2024, and Murray landed on the list.

"Apparently, Kyler Murray showed the Cardinals' new regime enough in 2023 coming off a torn ACL to get a vote of confidence and a brand new No. 1 WR in Marvin Harrison Jr . This doesn't change the fact that Arizona is in QB purgatory," wrote Douglas Clawson.

"Murray is among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL and enters Year 6 with zero career playoff wins and more questions than answers regarding his future. Arizona's hand was pretty much forced as cutting Murray would have cost over $100 million in dead money this offseason.

"The path out is Super Bowl contention by improving Murray's supporting cast enough to help him take a leap similar to how No. 1 wideouts helped the careers of Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts . Also, you only have to go back to 2021 when the Cardinals were 7-0 and Murray was an early season MVP candidate, surrounded by weapons like DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk.

"It fell apart down the stretch, as it often did with Kliff Kingsbury, but at least Murray showed MVP flashes. Murray ranked bottom three in the NFL in completion rate to wide receivers last year, and on passes 15-plus yards downfield. Let's see how much Harrison can elevate Murray and if second-year head coach Jonathan Gannon can eventually build a good defense."

It's fair to say the Cardinals, at least offensively, plugged most of the gaps they needed to over the offseason to pair Murray with extra talent being added along the offensive line, running back group, tight end room and receiving corps receiving most of the love/resources.

Defensively, there were efforts made to improve all three levels, but we'll see how those pan out.

Murray - for our money - was fairly impressive after returning from ACL surgery in 2023. With a full offseason and more improved weapons, it's reasonable to expect him to take the next step in the desert.