Bidwill: Cardinals must continue to rely on QB Kyler Murray
Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill remains firmly in the Kyler Murray camp while acknowledging the signal caller must continue to improve.
Watch: Michael Bidwill joins Newsmakers Week | 18 mins
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray turned in an inconsistent 2024 in his first full season under offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.
The franchise signal caller put together an impressive 10-game stretch highlighted by 12 touchdowns to just three interceptions, only for the wheels to come off in the backend of the season.
That first-place feeling sitting 6-4 at the bye week? That was quickly eroded behind three straight losses on the way to a sputtering 2-5 finish and 8-9 final record.
For a Cardinals team that hangs its hat on limiting turnovers and generating explosive plays, that’s a big no-no.
Fans (continue to) go back and forth as to whether or not Murray is the answer moving forward. Owner Michael Bidwill, however, remains one-sided on the polarizing signal caller.
“What he is is a dual threat quarterback. When he’s healthy he scares every defensive coordinator and he has a chance to change the game with his feet and with his arm,” Bidwill told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta during Newsmakers Week on Friday. “When you look at it, we’ve got to continue to rely on him and he’s got to play at a high level. He knows that.
“He’s working hard. … He needs to take the next step and we’re excited about our future with Kyler. He’s a great quarterback. I think we need to continue to build around that offense for him.”
Murray certainly deserves some of the blame for his fall off in the latter half of the season.
It wasn’t all on him, though.
While the Cardinals defense improved over the course of the year, the talent deficiencies popped up regularly — as did the inability to consistently rush the passer. Injuries to both sides of the football didn’t help matters, either, especially when depth was tested late in games.
Even with his miscues, Murray still finished seventh in completion percentage (68.8%), ninth in QBR (66.5), 11th in passing yards (3,851).
In general manager Monti Ossenfort’s eyes, progress starts with a collective step forward.
Kyler Murray's peaks in play make the Cardinals hard to beat. GM Monti Ossenfort knows cutting down on the turnovers in key moments is one thing the quarterback and his teammates can improve.
He joined @Bickley_Marotta this morning for Newsmakers Week. pic.twitter.com/EiXRbrkpmO
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 21, 2025
“It’s the same thing with our whole team. We have to finish,” Ossenfort added. “There were those tight games. Was it only Kyler? No, there were other things that the rest of the team could do. Does Kyler have to play better? Absolutely he does.
“When Kyler was (not turning the ball over and generating explosives), he was rolling. … And then when those games get tight and we turn the ball over and Kyler’s involved in some of those, that’s where it’s going to be tough to win and it’s going to be tough to win late in the season when the window of opportunity just shrinks. That’s a hump we have to get over. Kyler has to improve on that. The whole team has to improve on that. We have to raise our level of consistency.”
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Comments
27 Comments
This talk is very frustrating because you know darn well we will be sitting right here again having this same talk next year. Kyler can not, and will not win the big, stress filled games against elite teams when the lights are bright. No QB takes a step in year seven. Its already happened or its not going to. Kyler is Jay Cutler/Jeff George 2.0. Talent that can wow you at times, but not a leader and not a winner.
Its maddening because its obvious. The fan base is tired of this experiment and enthusiasm is suffering. If you bring in a new QB right now, paired with our young and improving roster, add a couple free agents and you will get some serious interest and buzz. Bring in free agents, have a good draft and keep Kyler and there will be a palpable, but we still have Kyler so we cant win anything important....
Obvious is obvious. Either move Kyler now, or waste another season and maybe get guys fired.
Don't care what anyone says, this owner is cheap. Under the guise of a rebuild he doesn't want to spend money. Cheap staff, cheap draft players while paying for extensions on underperforming players and coaches who have gone on and showed this franchise has no clue what they are doing
Translation:
When your team has an owner who inexplicably gives unnecessary extensions to Murray, Kingsbury and Keim in one of the stupidest decisions ever, you'd better believe you're gonna be paying for it for a long time. And stuck with Murray regardless of his eternal late-season swoons.
World class stupidity.