Kyler Murray's abbreviated 2025 season is officially over.
The Cardinals quarterback will not play again this season, coach Jonathan Gannon announced Friday, due to a foot injury that landed him on injured reserve in early November.
"He had more tests done this week, went out of state, got another opinion on it," Gannon explained. "It's not progressing where it's gonna back sense that he can go. So he's gonna be done for the year."
Murray first suffered the foot injury in Arizona's Week 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans and was treated as a week-to-week matter, but as he failed to show signs of improvement in his recovery, the ailment became an on-ramp to a larger discussion regarding the Cardinals' quarterback situation.
Initially, Murray's injury-related absence felt like a bit of a soft benching. With Murray behind center, Arizona's offense struggled consistently in 2025 and was frequently behind schedule, leading to low offensive outputs that betrayed the efforts of Gannon's improved defense and led to three straight one-possession losses in Weeks 3-5. Arizona demonstrated notable offensive improvement with veteran backup Jacoby Brissett playing in place of Murray, driving calls for Brissett to replace Murray going forward.
Although the Cardinals lost two more games by a single possession with Brissett at the controls, the veteran delivered an impressive showing in a prime-time win in Dallas in Week 9, convincing onlookers that Arizona had a better chance of victory with Brissett than Murray. Murray's eventual placement on injured reserve merely solved this conundrum while also inviting a new collection of questions regarding his future with the team.
While disappointing for the former No. 1 overall pick, Friday's news doesn't change matters for the 3-9 Cardinals in 2025. Instead, it merely guarantees Murray won't have a chance to produce an on-field counterargument to the claim his time in Arizona is dwindling.
When asked if Gannon expected Murray to be the Cardinals' starting quarterback in 2026, Gannon deflected.
"I'm worried about the Rams right now, honestly," he said, speaking of Arizona's upcoming opponent in a game that previously represented Murray's first opportunity to return from IR.
There's plenty of reason to believe the Cardinals might move on from Murray in the spring. Arizona can't quite financially justify outright releasing Murray in 2026 because it would result in a $57.7 million dead cap hit that can be split between 2026 and 2027, a significant sum for a team that would also be in the market for a replacement at the position. If the Cardinals can find a trade partner, however, they'd carry just $17.9 million in dead cap, saving $35.3 million and making a divorce much more palatable.
In order to orchestrate a trade, the Cardinals would have to earn his approval while also negotiating a competitive deal that would convince another team to agree to a trade. For now, such an effort isn't the top priority, but it won't be long before a new Super Bowl champion is crowned and the Cardinals will need to get to work.
One thing is certain, though: Murray has played his last down in 2025. We'll see if his next is in a new uniform.
