Kyler Murray's new contract set to pay him close to as much as every player on MLB team that drafted him combined

Kyler Murray will earn closely in one year as much as the Oakland Athletics’ entire payroll for the current MLB season. Incidentally, the A’s are the team that drafted Murray 9th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft.

The stark contrast between what Murray will earn on a per-year basis and the Moneyball Athletics demonstrates a huge comparison. The popularity of the NFL directly relates to the huge viewership of the league, which in turn affects the payroll of each NFL team.

The payroll for each NFL franchise easily dwarfs most small market teams in baseball. Even small-market NFL teams like the Green Bay Packers are paying one player (Aaron Rodgers) $50 million per year.

Additionally, baseball teams carry an active 26-player roster while football teams carry 53 players on their respective active rosters. Big-market baseball teams like the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers will shell out huge contracts for their best one or two players. Meanwhile, small-market teams have to be more frugal and spread out their payroll in order to field a balanced roster.

Even though baseball teams do not have a salary cap, most teams are unlikely to commit a lot of money to a single player. The discrepancy between one NFL quarterback’s salary and the payroll of an entire MLB team is shocking. Nonetheless, it makes sense when considering the viewership distinctions between the NFL and the MLB.

Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals look to improve on last season’s results

The Arizona Cardinals got off to a 7-0 start, but ended the year 4-6. The eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams bounced the Cardinals out of the first round of the playoffs. Still under head coach Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Kyler Murray, the team is hoping for another great start, but an even better finish to the season.

Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos, and the San Francisco 49ers handed the reins over to a second-year player in Trey Lance. As things stand, the Cardinals are hoping to hold off the Seattle Seahawks and 49ers and leapfrog the Rams into a deeper playoff run.