Kyler Murray signed a $230 million extension but the ‘Jamarcus Russell’ clause shows he’s still not at Tom Brady’s level
Kyler Murray is the latest young quarterback to sign a massive contract, but considering the terms of the contract, he still has time to get to Tom Brady.
Murray signed a five-year, $230 million extension with the Arizona Cardinals that came with $160 million guaranteed. However, fans were upset about the deal.
Several quarterbacks were anxiously watching Murray’s situation with the Cardinals unfold. Many believe Murray’s deal is an overpayment. He hasn’t won a single playoff game, and he hasn’t taken his game to the level some of the other younger quarterbacks have.
Murray still hasn’t accomplished much in his career to show that he deserves that kind of money. Of course, he has shown the potential to be a star in the league. He is athletic and can find ways to make something out of nothing. Murray’s contract was criticized when some of the nuances were revealed.
Contracts are about give-and-take. One example from #AZCardinals QB Kyler Murray’s $230.5M contract: There is an addendum that requires 4 hours of “independent study” per game week. It was important to the team making a commitment at that level, thus it was important to Murray. pic.twitter.com/VqrkvoBQLJ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 25, 2022
Kyler Murray still has a way to go to catch Tom Brady
NFL fans scoffed at Murray’s independent study clause. Murray had once said that he doesn’t spend a lot of time watching movies.
“I think I was blessed with the cognitive skills to go out there and see it before it happens,” Murray explained.
“I’m not one of those guys who’s going to sit there and kill themselves watching a movie. I don’t sit there for 24 hours and analyze this team and that team and watch every game because, in my head, I see a lot.”
The endless mockery of Murray’s clause ultimately led the Cardinals to scrap it entirely.
The #AZCardinals have removed the controversial “independent study” clause from QB Kyler Murray’s $230.5M contract, sources say, a move that happened yesterday.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 29, 2022
Comparing Murray’s situation to other quarterbacks, he could land on a spectrum between Jamarcus Russell. Russell wasn’t performing at the level the Raiders expected, so they decided to put him to the test.
They sent him blank tapes and the next day they asked him about it. Russell gave a response stating that the tapes were not blank, proving that he did not see the movie of the game.
David Diehl just told a great story on the FAN. Coaches didn’t think Jamarcus Russell *was studying tapes so they gave him blank cassettes. Next day, he said he watched the blitz packages. The tapes were blank.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) November 4, 2018
On the other hand, Tom Brady spends so much time watching movies that he goes back five years to dissect a defensive game plan. Brady is committed to watching movies, and it’s a technique that has brought him great success.
Kyler Murray will probably fall somewhere between Brady and Russell in terms of movie habits, but it’s a little concerning that he didn’t even try to fulfill the contract, especially when the Cardinals weren’t even going to monitor Murray and just take his word for it.
Read More: Hollywood actor used Aaron Rodgers’ Covid-19 stance for the punchline of his Netflix special
