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Cardinals, Murray Agree To $230 Million Extension; QB Locked Up Through 2028
After an offseason of drama and speculation, the Cardinals announced they had come to terms on a new contract with Kyler Murray on Thursday, locking him up through 2028.

Financial parameters were not announced, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the five-year extension is worth $230.5 million, making Murray one of the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks.

The dea includes $160 million in guaranteed money, the source told Schefter.

The average annual value of Murray's deal is $46.1 million, which is the second highest in the NFL behind only Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers ($50.3 million).

Deshaun Watson's deal with the Cleveland Browns has an average annual value of $46 million, and Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes' deal averages $45 million per year.

Watson, of course, had the entirety of his $230M deal guaranteed, a precedent other teams had little interest in.

Murray's deal is short of that, but given that he will turn 25 Aug. 7, he has a good chance of playing out the deal and collecting all the money anyway.

Murray had been scheduled to make $5.3 million this season (with a salary cap number of $11.4 million), and the Cardinals had already picked up his fifth-year option in 2023 that guaranteed a salary of $29.7 million.

Murray had not been eligible for an extension until the day after the regular season ended in 2021, and soon after Murray's agent made it public the QB needed to get a new deal. Speculation had been that Murray might not attend training camp without a new deal, and head coach Kliff Kingsbury had said he was "praying" a deal would be done before camp.

Murray, who was drafted first overall by the Cardinals in 2019, has established himself as one of the NFL's top young quarterbacks over the past three seasons.

Through three seasons, Murray has compiled a 22-23-1 record. He's thrown for 11,480 yards with 70 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. He's also rushed for 1,786 yards with 20 TDs.

Murray is the first player in NFL history with at least 70 passing touchdowns, 20 rushing touchdowns, 3,500 passing yards, 400 rushing yards and 17 games with a completion percentage of at least 70 percent in his first three seasons. His overall completion percentage of 66.86 is the best for a player in his first three seasons.

Murray also was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019 and a Pro Bowler in each of the past two seasons.

He led the Cardinals to year-over-year improvement each season -- from five wins in 2019 to eight in 2020 and 11 in 2021, all while setting records.

Murray and the Cardinals got off to a 7-0 start last season but an ankle injury slowed him down before a knee injury to top receiver DeAndre Hopkins turned out to be a limiting factor for all involved (the Cardinals averaged 30.2 points in 10 games with Hopkins, and 19.8 points in the eight games without him).

Although Hopkins will miss the first six games this season due to suspension, the Cardinals added weapons, including former Raven Marquise Brown, with the goal of keeping their offensive momentum going through the full season.

Given all that, Murray's improved passing efficiency is encouraging, and expecting his rushing numbers to something closer to his 2020 totals doesn't seem like a reach.