Kyler Murray rumors: Former Cardinals standouts predict QB will play elsewhere, Arizona has ‘culture’ problems

If you’re a Cardinals fan who enjoys having Kyler Murray as your quarterback, buckle your seat belt. As the former No. 1 overall pick holds out of Arizona’s offseason workouts — with reportedly no plans to return absent a new contract — a pair of the QB’s ex-Cardinals teammates are not surprised by the drama between the two sides. Not only that, but they believe the 24-year-old Murray will eventually play elsewhere, finishing his career with a different team.

Appearing on CBS Sports’ “All Things Covered” podcast, co-hosted by longtime Cardinals and current Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson, former Arizona running back Chase Edmonds — now with the Dolphins — suggested the Cardinals have internal issues that likely played a part in Murray’s escalating dispute.

“It’s (not) surprising to me, bro, to say the least,” Edmonds said. “I just know, especially knowing how the last two years (have) ended, meaning 2021 and 2020, and knowing the type of competitor that K1 is, and the type of winner that he wants to be … I knew there was gonna be, at some point, some things happening. Especially just because, you see the power that quarterbacks have now. … They hold the weight, man, and you gotta pay ’em.”

Edmonds, who spent three seasons alongside Murray before signing with Miami this offseason, said “you could see the frustration ready to boil over” at the end of 2021, when the Cardinals finished 11-6 — and went one-and-done in the playoffs — despite a 10-2 start.

“When you see (good) culture teams in the NFL, like the Baltimore Ravens, the New Orleans Saints, the San Francisco 49ers, those teams — no matter how talented they look, bro, from top to bottom — they just somehow how to find a way to win damn games,” Edmonds said. “Even like Mike Tomlin with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Some teams have that culture, and some teams don’t. I feel like that’s kinda what it was for us.”

Peterson, who spent the first 10 years of his career in Arizona, agreed, suggesting the Cardinals’ philosophies are at odds with Murray, whose agent this offseason publicly pressured the team not only to verbally but financially commit to the QB.

“I’ve been around K1,” Peterson said. “He’s a competitor … And I feel like, no disrespect to the Arizona Cardinals, I feel like they don’t put the team in a position to be successful year after year after year. And Kyler Murray’s not gonna sit around and wait for that.”

Asked if he foresees Murray sticking in Arizona long-term, Edmonds echoed Peterson.

“Man, the way things are, and how people just move and get traded, I don’t think so,” he said. “It’s a new way, bro. It’s a new era in the NFL. … People (are) gonna say a lot of things about K1, but he wants to win more than anything.”