The face of the Cardinals for the majority of the last seven years, Murray will now begin his career recovery. He may have landed in the best possible place with O’Connell.
O’Connell has previously had success in Minnesota with Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold, who left the Vikings last season to captain the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX victory.
The 28-year-old Murray played in just five games last year, completing 68.3% of his passes for a paltry 192.4 yards per game, six touchdowns, three interceptions and an 88.6 forward rating. A potent dual threat at his best, Murray couldn’t lead the Cardinals to much offense in the air or on the ground, as veteran backup Jacoby Brissett led the Cards in more production when he took over — even if the wins didn’t follow.
Beginning 2022 with a torn ACL followed by a pedal injury last year, Murray has missed a total of 27 games from 2022-25. His game has also declined significantly.
The 2019 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowler, Murray finishes his Arizona career third in franchise history with 20,460 yards and 121 passing and with 3,193 rushing yards and 32 TDs on the ground. His big numbers are tops in club history for a quarterback (with the exception of Hall of Famer Charley Trippi, who was primarily a quarterback and defensive end).
In his first three years, Murray had 3,700 passing yards and 20 or more touchdown passes in each season, joining Justin Herbert, Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history with such statistics to begin a career, according to NFL Research.
He is also one of only two players (Josh Allen being the other) all-time to average 230-plus passing yards and 30-plus rushing yards per game.
However, since tearing his ACL in 2022, Murray’s run has slowed. He averaged 38.7 yards per game from 2019-2022 and scored 23 touchdowns on the ground. By comparison, he has only scored nine rushing TDs and averaged 33 yards per game since 2023.