Detroit Lions should stick to the process and avoid Kyler Murray’s drama
By Bob Heyrman
Welcome to the offseason, when every player in the league that does something dramatic or says something others read too much into becomes rumored to ‘want out’ of their current situation, or fans start creating a path said player lands on their favorite team. This time said player is Kyler Murray, and no, he will not end up on the Detroit Lions.
Let me start this article by saying I have no idea why Kyler Murray would scrub his social media accounts from everything Arizona Cardinals. To me, this is a childish act.
I don’t know if I am just a bit too old for these types of antics or what, but I’ll never understand why a professional athlete gets so tied up in social media. I mean, I can’t believe a player with the caliber of Kevin Durant needs to create burner (fake) social media accounts in addition to his verified account. You are arguably the top basketball player on the planet today; why are you even on social media?
Murray recently scrubbed his accounts, and even his teammates are wondering what the heck is going on. Recently star receiver DeAndre Hopkins tried to make light of the subject;
"“The only thing I could think [is] he wants to show off some new outfits for this upcoming season, he didn’t want you guys to look at the old ones,” Hopkins said, via Donnie Druin of SI.com."
Cardinals receiver Christian Kirk also recently mentioned that he has no idea what is going on with Murray.
Some suggest the former no. 1 overall pick is part of a team rebranding ploy which would include the Cardinals in the gimmick. The idea would be driven by getting the mainstream media, social media users, and everyone who either follows, talks about, or covers football to talk about Murray and the Cardinals. Then a couple of weeks later, Murray’s social media will be littered with new Cardinals content. This is a possibility, and if this is the agenda, we should find out soon.
More are suggesting that there might be a rift between Murray and his head coach Kliff Kingsbury. This is a possibility, remember Murray had been recruited by Kingsbury and Texas Tech but opted to commit to Texas A&M instead. After just one season with A&M, Murray transferred to Oaklahoma for two seasons before being selected first overall by the Cardinals in 2019. This after selecting Josh Rosen in the first round just a year prior.
This past November, in an article published by All Cardinals, part of the Sports Illustrated family, Kingsbury admitted he and Murray tend to butt heads.
"“We butt heads. I mean, we’re both Leos. And super competitive. So we’ll butt heads,” Kingsbury said. (For more of a deep dive on Kliff’s astrology, click here.)“And I think that kind of has us go at each other at times, but we both know it’s from a great place. And like I said at the end of the day, he knows I’m tied to him. He knows that we’re tied together. We just got to find a way to get it done. And we both approach it from that that aspect.”Kingsbury equated his relationship with Murray to that of an actor and director in terms of their communication.He said, “It’s really just an understanding of what each one of us is about. I think he knows, when I get pissed, it’s not about a mistake he made, it’s about, ‘Hey, I want to be successful’ and I know when he’s mad and going through it that he wants to be the best."
The Arizona Cardinals haven’t found a way to win down the stretch. Once the calendar turns from October to November, it seems the Cards season goes downhill in a hurry under the watchful eye of Kingsbury and Murray at the controls.
Just this past season, after a loss to the Detroit Lions, Murray admitted the Cardinals overlooked and were not prepared for the Detroit Lions. Who admits that? I mean, it gives talking heads something to converse about, but that statement speaks volumes about the leadership in Arizona, and not in a positive way.
The other story going around suggests that Murray is angling for a contract extension. It seems unlikely, but is Murray considering baseball? In addition to being the no. 1 overall pick in the NFL, Murray was also a top-ten pick by the Oakland A’s.
Should the Detroit Lions consider making an offer for Kyler Murray?
The short answer: No.
It’s not that Murray isn’t widely talented because he is. It’s because 24-year old quarterbacks with his level of talent simply do not become available. There is no way that the Cardinals will make Murray available, BUT if they did, the Detroit Lions would be forced to mortgage their future to acquire him.
Do you feel Kyler Murray is a better quarterback than former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford? The Stafford haters are vigorously nodding their heads yes. In contrast, many others will be quick to point out that Stafford is playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday while Murray is still sitting on the Cardinals bench, distant from his teammates sulking after being blown out 34-11 by the Rams.
So, let’s play the hypothetical game here for a minute. If the Detroit Lions wanted to land Murray and he was made available, the Detroit Lions would need to give up multiple first-round picks.
I would expect this hypothetical trade to appear something like this;
Count them that is three first-round picks, and if you think that is steep, remember that the Detroit Lions received two first-round picks and a third-round pick for a 32-year old Matthew Stafford. We’re talking about a 24-year old dual-threat quarterback. The Detroit Lions received the second first-round pick in their deal to take Jared Goff‘s contract, so one of the three first-round picks I’ve mentioned plays the same role in this scenario.
The Detroit Lions are in a position to build with the abundance of draft capital they’ve acquired over the next two seasons. Despite his overall talent, trading the premium picks to acquire a young quarterback set to break the bank might not be the best direction. If the Detroit Lions failed to build correctly around Stafford, what makes you think they can with Murray?
The Cardinals failed to make any noise with a high-powered offense that consists of one of the top pass-catchers in the game. When things get, unappealing Murray has a knack for sulking and throwing a fit rather than rallying the troops, which wouldn’t go over well with the rebuilding Detroit Lions.
For now, the Detroit Lions are better suited to stay the course; general manager Brad Holmes has started and continues rebuilding from the inside out and eventually securing the next franchise quarterback through the NFL Draft rather than mortgaging the future on a potentially explosive situation.