Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray will not return this season due to a lingering foot injury, coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters Friday.
Murray injured his foot late in Arizona’s Oct. 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans. He has not played since then, and backup Jacoby Brissett has led the Cardinals’ offense. Murray was eligible this week to come off injured reserve but the Cardinals did not open his practice window.
“He had some more tests done this week, went out of state, got another opinion on it,” Gannon said Friday. “It’s not progressing to where it’s going to make sense that he can go. So he’s going to be done for the year.”
The decision ends perhaps the most disappointing season of Murray’s seven NFL seasons. In just five games, he completed 68.3 percent of his attempts for 962 yards and six touchdowns with three interceptions. The Week 5 home loss to the Titans in which he was injured ranks among the worst in franchise history.
It’s possible Murray has played his last game in Arizona. In his absence, the journeyman Brissett has ignited the Cardinals’ passing game, putting up better numbers and getting more playmakers involved. Wins, however, have not followed. The Cardinals (3-9) are 1-6 with Brissett and have lost four in a row entering Sunday’s home game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Asked if he expected Murray to return next season, Gannon said he is “just worried about the Rams right now.”
Murray’s future has been debated locally and nationally for months, and it will likely remain a topic of discussion into the offseason. The No. 1 pick of the 2019 NFL Draft, Murray was drafted to help take the Cardinals deep into the postseason. Instead, Murray has gone 38-48-1 as a starter. He lost his only playoff game, a 2021 blowout loss to the Rams.
Murray, 28, remains under contract through 2028 but the final year is a team option. He is owed $36.8 million next season. If he is on Arizona’s roster on March 22, his $19.5 million salary for 2027 will become fully guaranteed.
The Cardinals have a 94 percent chance to pick in the top-10 of the 2026 NFL Draft, according to The Athletic’s NFL simulator, and a 40 percent chance to land in the top five.
