NFL: Kyler Murray signs massive Arizona Cardinals deal

One of the NFL’s brightest stars, Kyler Murray, has signed a massive contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals. The deal will span five years and is worth $230.5 million, with $160 million of it being guaranteed.

This deal comes on the heels of a tumultuous offseason for Murray, where it was rumored he may be trying to leave the Cardinals after scrubbing the team off all of his social media pages. However, after a draft-day trade for Murray’s college teammate Hollywood Brown and this new contract, it appears both sides have resolved any problems they had.

This deal will catapult Murray to having the second-highest average annual value in the NFL. He will be paid $46.1 million a year, which puts him behind only Aaron Rodgers across the entire league.

Despite the offseason drama, the Cardinals were clearly motivated to keep Murray. They have improved by three wins in each of Murray’s three campaigns in the NFL, resulting in an 11-6 record last season. While they lost in the first round of the playoffs, it’s a vast improvement on the pre-Kyler era.

Murray was picked first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft and was named the 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year. In each of the past two seasons he was named to the Pro Bowl and he is considered one of the most dynamic young quarterbacks in the NFL. Last season, Murray had 3,787 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He is one of the best scrambling QBs in the league as well, and although injuries hindered his ability to run last year, he still finished with 423 rushing yards and five touchdowns. The year before, however, he had 819 rushing yards and 11 rushing TDs.

At only 24, Kyler has a bright future and it was a no-brainer for the Cards to extend his contract. While they haven’t found any playoff success with Murray yet, he gives them a chance in every game. The deal may be a lot of money, but that is the current trend of QB contracts in the NFL and Arizona had to pay their guy.

Murray currently sits at +2000 with Bovada to win the NFL MVP award, and that’s one of the best value plays on MVP futures across the league. In each of the past two seasons, Kyler was a favorite to win the award and had injuries derail him. If he can stay healthy this season, he should be one of the favorites and the Cards should be rolling. Basically, to win the NFL MVP award, you need to be on a good team and you need to be a QB. If the Cardinals have a similar season to last season but Kyler stays healthy, he will be in a great spot to win the award and +2000 will be a steal of a price.

Also, the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl at +3500 is a good value bet as well. Kyler and the Cardinals have improved each year since the beginning of his tenure and, eventually, they should find some playoff success. While it may be unlikely for this season, +3500 is a great price for a team that will be in the playoff hunt. There’s a good chance these are the best odds you will be able to get on Arizona for this coming season, and there will be ample opportunities to hedge this bet if the Cards do end up making a run.

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