“Like a chicken with his head cut off” - NFL analyst reacts to Kyler Murray’s sudden tone shift

Kyler Murray has been a big name this offseason and the source of a lot of stress for Arizona Cardinals fans. Throughout the offseason, the quarterback has been pushing for a massive contract extension, even going so far as scrubbing his social media of Cardinals references, similar to what Russell Wilson did.

However, on April 21, the quarterback posted on Twitter that he wants to win "Super Bowls" with the team. He also called Arizona "home." The two messages have fans and analysts scratching their heads. During an appearance on Speak for Yourself, NFL analyst Marcellus Wiley said the quarterback is hurting himself with the mixed messages:

“How does Kyler come across after that latest tweet? Like a chicken with his head cut off. Let's talk about this. I'm gonna have some life lessons with my man Kyler Murray. I hate for somebody to mess up their money, and he is messing up his money. Too much spin, a lot of spin this offseason is starting to spin out of control."

He continued, saying the quarterback hasn't been as responsible as he's needed to be:

"To be declared to be thought of revered as a franchise quarterback, you got to understand the responsibilities that come with that. And I don't think Kyler Murray understands that he wants the money that comes with being a franchise quarterback. But right now, I don't see the responsibilities. These are billion-dollar-plus franchises all of them."

He wrapped up his point by, essentially, calling Murray's handling of the situation immature:

"And if we're gonna give you the keys to our franchise, we can't have eight-year-old problems. Such as 'Oh, I don't like how you're making me feel privately, so publicly, I'm going to now cleanse my account of you.' Like we don't know who you play for. You've been there for three seasons. And this is the thing that he's really messing up in the pursuit of his capital, the money, he's messing up the human capital.”

Kyler Murray's career

Houston Texans v Arizona Cardinals

Kyler Murray's career is still quite young. Heading into his fourth season, the quarterback could still play in the NFL for another decade or longer. He was drafted first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, one season after Josh Rosen was drafted in the first round.

The quarterback ended up being a package deal with head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who coached the quarterback in college, as well. In the quarterback's first season in the NFL, he went 5-10-1, throwing for 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In his second season, he went 8-8 while throwing for 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Most recently, in 2021, he threw for 24 touchdowns and ten interceptions while leading the team to a 9-5 record as a starter and a playoff appearance. While the team's winning percentage has increased, the quarterback's production has stayed roughly the same, leading many to speculate that this is the reason why the Cardinals are hesitant to pay their quarterback top dollar.

Now the question is, will Kyler Murray get a Mahomes-esque payday?