For the fourth straight season, the Arizona Cardinals have named quarterback Kyler Murray one of their team captains.
Murray joins running back James Conner, left tackle D.J. Humphries, linebacker Kyzir White, safety Budda Baker and linebacker/special teamer Dennis Gardeck.
Coach Jonathan Gannon, entering his first season in Arizona, went with four players with previous experience as captains in Arizona — Murray, Humphries, Baker and Gardeck. His reasoning for Murray was simple.
“He’s our franchise quarterback,” Gannon said. “And everything that I want our captains to be, he demonstrates it.”
Murray, recovering from a torn ACL, will miss at least the first four games of the regular season after starting out on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. And speculation surfaced over the weekend that the Cardinals have financial incentive to keep Murray sidelined for all of 2022.
Reports said the Cardinals would owe Murray $37 million in 2024, $29 million in 2025 and $26 million in 2026 in injury guarantees if Murray cannot pass a physical before March 2024.
But Murray being named a captain, combined with Gannon’s comments, signals that Arizona will roll with the former No. 1 overall pick when he is healthy and ready to play.
The Cardinals will start either journeyman Josh Dobbs, acquired in late August from Cleveland, or fifth-round draft pick Clayton Tune at quarterback Week 1 against the Washington Commanders. That determination has not been made.
Arizona also signed veteran QB Jeff Driskel to the practice squad Monday. Driskel spent time at Cardinals training camp and was cut before the initial 53-man roster was finalized.
—Field Level Media
