With The No. 3 Pick, the Arizona Cardinals Are the Most Interesting Team in the 2023 NFL Draft

All eyes will be on the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans who have the numbers 1 and 2 picks while also having clear holes at the quarterback position. So while everyone is debating whether Bryce Young is too small or if Anthony Richardson is the next Josh Allen or if CJ Stroud is too black, the Cardinals are sitting at the no. 3 pick with far higher stakes.

Kyler Murray is locked up through the 2027 season and normally, that would indicate that he is the bonafide franchise guy and everything in that organization is built around him. But the guy who gave Murray that $230 million contract was fired last season—along with head coach Kliff Kingsbury who immediately ran to the sex tourism capital of the world—which means the new front office has no real allegiance to Kyler at all.

Last year, the Arizona Cardinals finished 4-13 which is why they now possess the no. 3 pick.

I feel like people think the Cardinals sucked because Kyler Murray was out with an injury but he still played 11 of the 17 games and went 3-8 on those 11 starts. Murray had career lows in yards per game, yards per attempt, passer rating and QBR. Kyler played in just 11 games and threw more interceptions than Daniel Jones—who I am constantly told is so turnover prone and blah blah.

The Cardinals didn’t stink because Murray didn’t play. They stunk because he did play.

So whoever new GM, Monti Ossenfort, decides to draft with the no. 3 pick will tell us everything we need to know about his Kyler Murray feelings. Obviously, if the Cardinals draft a quarterback then Murray is on borrowed time although, I think Kyler is better than he performed last season and should be given at least one more season to prove himself.

But Kyler has been verbal about who he wants the team to select. It’s been reported this week that Kyler Murray wants the team to select offensive lineman Paris Johnson so if the team actually selects him then we’ll know they are all on one unified page. Get Murray some pass protection and see what he can do when he isn’t running for his life as soon as he drops back.

The problem is, Kyler has made requests in the past and those requests have been denied.

Kyler Murray is lobbying the Cardinals to draft OL Paris Johnson

in 2021 Kyler Murray lobbied the Cardinals to draft an OL (Creed Humphrey)

they did not

instead, they drafted a linebacker

in 2020 Kyler Murray lobbied the Cardinals to draft an OL (Tristan Wirfs)

they did not…

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 25, 2023

For the past two years, Kyler has asked for an offensive lineman and the Cardinals ignored him and drafted back-to-back first-round linebackers. Their defense has been in the lower half of the league following both drafts while Kyler has had both of those seasons ended early thanks to a terrible offensive line letting every pass rusher rip him to shreds all game long.

But again, that was a different regime that ignored him and drafted linebackers for no reason. There’s a reason they were fired. New GM, Monti Ossenfort and new head coach Jonathan Gannon, are already fixing that relationship with Murray. This week, they attended a ceremony at Oklahoma University unveiling a new Kyler Murray statue.

A great peace offering and PR move to stand by their QB1. It was instantly shit on by Cardinals fans who thought they should be in a dark cave preparing for the draft but I see what they were doing and salute them for placating Kyler.

Unfortunately, I think there’s only like, a 10% chance the Cardinals listen to Murray.

If Carolina and Houston select quarterbacks, that means Will Anderson and Jalen Carter will be available and both are better players than Paris Johnson. Anderson and Carter are franchise-altering pass-rushing playmakers. You get guys like that on your roster and you instantly win the field position battle giving Kyler shorter fields to work with and making it easier for him to put points on the board.

Arizona is also very close to sending DeAndre Hopkins away so not only would they not be drafting the lineman Kyler wants but they’d be shipping off his best offensive weapon.

The Arizona Cardinals are going to be the stars of the 2023 NFL Draft.

It feels like they’re about to draft a third straight defender and get rid of a pro bowl receiver that way, if/when Kyler struggles this year, this new front office and coaching staff can pretend like they gave him a fair shot to prove himself and they can move on from him and sleep well at night even though they 1000% fucked him over.

They’ll always have his statue unveiling together…ah, the memories.