The Arizona Cardinals have finally done it. The Cardinals announced that they will be parting ways with quarterback Kyler Murray at the start of the new league year if they can not get a trade partner. This has been the thought process since the start of the offseason. Murray has been with the Cardinals since being drafted in 2019. With Murray getting ready to hit the free agent market at the start of the new league year, he will be one of the more sought-after quarterbacks in this cycle. And there are plenty of teams that need a quarterback.
The Indianapolis Colts are trying to get a deal done with Daniel Jones, using the transition tag as a placeholder. The New York Jets are also releasing their quarterback, Justin Fields, putting them in the market for a quarterback. The Minnesota Vikings are also looking for another quarterback, with reports surfacing that they want to move on from J.J. McCarthy.
With Murray about to hit free agency, there is one team that would benefit from landing him, which could not only save his career but bring him back to fantasy relevancy. The Atlanta Falcons. Now, why does this make the most sense? With reports that the Falcons are “noncommittal” on quarterback Michael Penix, Jr., the door is open for the Falcons to find another quarterback. The Falcons are also releasing former starter Kirk Cousins at the beginning of the new league year. With Cousins out the door and Penix dealing with ACL recovery, the Falcons need to have a quarterback ready to start the season.
Fantasy Football 2026: Kyler Murray Released, Perfect Fit For ATL
Michael Penix Jr.'s season-ending partial ACL tear (left knee) adds to an already long injury history. In college, he tore his right ACL twice (2018, 2020).
Through 14 career NFL games:
▪️ 60% CMP
▪️ 2,757 YDS
▪️ 12-6 TD/INT
Has he shown enough to remain Atlanta's QB1 in 2026? pic.twitter.com/mLiE8UnkDY
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) November 20, 2025
The Falcons have all the tools needed on offense to compete for the division title if they were to land Murray. Drake London is a top-tier wide receiver in the NFL who was close to finishing with another 1,000-yard season. The Falcons placed the franchise tag on talented tight end Kyle Pitts in the hopes of getting a long-term deal done. And then there is Bijan Robinson. No need to go into detail there, as the NFL world knows how he is moving. With these three cornerstones in place, matched with Murray’s passing skills and rushing ability, the Falcons offense could be one of the more dangerous units in the NFC South.
The Falcons have moved on from Raheem Morris and added Kevin Stefanski as the head coach and Tommy Rees as the offensive coordinator. While their final year in Cleveland was not the greatest, they have much better weapons to work with this time around. Adding Murray as a dual-threat with Robinson lurking in the backfield could work. In his five games with the Cardinals before going down with an injury, Murray passed for 962 yards with a 68.3% completion rate. Murray also had seven total touchdowns and added another 173 yards rushing.
Murray averaged 192.4 passing yards per game over the five-game stretch. Extrapolated over a 17-game season would amount to 3,270 yards. His 1.2 passing touchdowns per game average would have netted him 20 touchdowns with 11 interceptions on a full season. While Murray’s numbers don’t jump off the paper, arming him with guys like Drake London over Marvin Harrison Jr. would be a step up. We have seen in the past what Murray can do when he has a player like DeAndre Hopkins out there to throw to.
Murray’s Fantasy Outlook
Should Murray land with the Falcons this offseason, it would provide fantasy managers with a late-round quarterback option to target during fantasy drafts. Murray was being drafted as the QB9 in fantasy drafts last season. With other quarterbacks like Caleb Williams and Drake Maye stepping up last season, expect Murray to fall into the double-digits in ADP for 2026. But that isn’t a bad thing if you plan to take a quarterback later in your drafts.
Remember that Murray is still a threat to run, which is what fantasy managers like to target from their quarterbacks. It is why quarterbacks like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts are heavily targeted early in drafts. Murray has reached over 300 yards rushing in five of his seven years in the league. He would have done it again last season, as he averaged 34.6 yards per game rushing on 5.8 carries on average. That would have given Murray 588 rushing yards last season in 17 games.
By comparison, Penix was worse than Murray was last season despite playing four more games. Penix, in nine games last season, finished with 1,982 passing yards and a 9:3 touchdown to interception ratio. However, Penix completed just over 60% of his passes. Penix did beat out Murray when it came to yards per attempt (7.2 to 6.0) and finished with three more passing touchdowns. Penix also threw the ball more than Murray did last season, with 276 pass attempts over nine games to 161 for Murray over five.
If Murray can see the kind of volume that Penix was putting out, the gap between them in yards would be closed. Over an entire season at his passing average (220 p/g), Penix would have finished with 3,743 passing yards. Penix also finished with a 13.4 fantasy points per game average to Murray’s 15.6.
Murray will be one of the quarterbacks worth watching to see where he lands once free agency gets started. That way, the fantasy community can evaluate what his true fantasy value should be. Murray with the Atlanta Falcons is just one scenario that could work out for the quarterback. It all starts with which team is willing to take a chance on Murray and bring him in.