The No. 1 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft has landed in the Twin Cities.
Kyler Murray, who was officially released by the Arizona Cardinals on Wednesday, is signing a one-year deal for the league minimum with the Minnesota Vikings, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Thursday.
The Vikings are able to sign Murray to a minimum deal -- à la Russell Wilson with the Steelers in 2024 and Tua Tagovailoa with the Falcons this year -- because Murray is guaranteed $36.8 million this season by the Cardinals as part of the extension he signed in 2022.
Murray's deal with Minnesota includes a no-tag clause, per Rapoport and Pelissero.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings were the favorites to land Murray, who's looking to rebound from a season-ending foot injury and a lackluster conclusion to a seven-season run in Arizona. Whether Murray arrives as Minnesota's starter or competes for the QB1 job with J.J. McCarthy remains to be seen, but the Vikings have been clear that they wanted options and competition in the quarterback room this year.
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The face of the Cardinals for the majority of the past seven years, Murray will now embark on a career reclamation. He perhaps has landed in the best place possible with O'Connell.
O'Connell has had previous success in Minnesota with Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold, who left the Vikings last offseason to captain the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX triumph.
The 28-year-old Murray played just five games last year, completing 68.3% of his passes for a paltry 192.4 yards per game, six touchdowns, three interceptions and an 88.6 passer ranking. A dynamic dual-threat when he's at his best, Murray was unable to lead the Cardinals to much offensive prominence through the air or on the ground, with veteran backup Jacoby Brissett leading the Cards to more production when he took over -- even if wins didn't follow.
Beginning with a torn ACL in 2022 and followed by last year's pedal foot injury, Murray has missed 27 total games from 2022-25. His play has also noticeably waned.
The 2019 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowler, Murray concludes his career in Arizona third in franchise history with 20,460 passing yards and 121 passing touchdowns, and with 3,193 rushing yards and 32 TDs on the ground. His rushing numbers are tops in club chronicle for a quarterback (excluding Hall of Famer Charley Trippi, who was primarily a running back and defensive back).
Over his first three years, Murray produced 3,700 passing yards and 20 or more touchdown passes each season, joining Justin Herbert, Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history with such stats to begin a career, per NFL Research.
He's also one of only two players (Josh Allen being the other) all time to average 230-plus passing yards and 30-plus rushing yards per game.
However, since tearing his ACL in 2022, Murray's rushing has dropped. He averaged 38.7 yards per game from 2019-2022 and scored 23 touchdowns on the ground. In comparison, he's scored just nine rushing TDs and averaged 33 yards a game since 2023.
The future of a pair of first-round picks is now in the balance for the 2026 Vikings.
McCarthy, picked by Minnesota 10th overall in 2024, has played just 10 games over the past two seasons. He missed all of his rookie campaign after suffering a preseason knee injury and various injuries limited him to 10 games last year, one in which McCarthy showed off a cannon for an arm but was often off the mark and inconsistent.
He completed just 57.6% of his passes with 11 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 72.6 rating.
After Minnesota missed out on the playoffs and came up drastically short of its expectations, the optics on the 2025 Vikings' struggles were worsened when Darnold, whom they watched leave in free agency, lifted a Lombardi Trophy with the Seahawks.
Thus, the Vikings' QB conundrum continues with Murray entering the discussion as the potential QB1 answer -- for at least 2026.