Kyler Murray Trade Rumors: Cardinals Undecided on QB's Future amid Knee Injury Rehab

Kyler Murray is working toward getting back on the field this season, but the Arizona Cardinals still have a long-term decision to make with the 26-year-old quarterback.

Per ESPN's Dan Graziano, there's a belief that the Cardinals are undecided at this point about what they want to do with Murray:

"Based on my conversations with various sources about this situation, I do not believe the Cardinals have decided what they will do with Murray after this season. And that's obviously understandable. He's still not healthy enough to play, they don't know when he will be, and it's too early in the season to know what their other options are for 2024 and beyond."

Graziano also noted the vast majority of front-office people from around the league he spoke with said "it would be difficult to imagine a team giving the Cardinals something of value for Murray if they didn't know for a fact he was healthy, and that the only way to know for sure about his health would be to see him play at least a few games this season."

The speculation from people outside the Cardinals organization—executives and agents—is they are "likely" to move on from Murray after the season.

Murray has been on the physically unable to perform list all season. He is currently rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered in a Week 14 loss to the New England Patriots last year.

This week was the first time Murray was eligible to come off the PUP list, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported he's still "weeks away" from being ready to play.

When the Cardinals remove Murray from the PUP list, he will have a 21-day practice window to get ready. At the end of that period, the team has to decide if it will put him on the 53-man roster.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters on Tuesday he doesn't think there's any disappointment Murray wasn't activated: "We knew his timeline, where he is at, and that's kind of a day-by-day thing with all the guys coming off an injury. He actually has been very upbeat the whole time but this last couple of weeks I have seen a little bit of a different bounce in his step."

In a TikTok posted on Sept. 20, Murray recorded a video of himself doing squats with a dumbbell and wrote a caption:

"I tore my ACL 8 months ago. This is the only major injury I've had. I've never missed the game like this. I'm itching to get back. You learn a lot about yourself in these types of moments. To those of you who ride with me, support me, speak up for me, I appreciate you more than you'll ever know. I won't let us down. Soon."

Murray has been adamant that he's going to return at some point this season. General manager Monti Ossenfort recentl said on Arizona Sports' Wolf & Luke (h/t Kevin Zimmerman of ArizonaSports.com) they "won't hesitate" to activate him when he's ready.

Despite their 1-3 record, the Cardinals have been a pleasant surprise through the first four weeks of the season. They have been competitive in three of their first four games, highlighted by a 28-16 upset of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3.

Even last week's loss to the San Francisco 49ers was a five-point game before the 49ers scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make it a 35-16 final score.

If the Cardinals want to move on from Murray after this season, their best approach would likely be getting him on the field for a few games if he's physically capable of doing so. His value took a hit last season even before the knee injury.

Murray is under contract through the 2028 season and has a $51.9 million cap hit in 2024. The two-time Pro Bowler averaged 3,826 passing yards, 595 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns per season from 2019 to '21.