NFL Draft Rumors: Arizona Cardinals to pass on drafting Kyler Murray with the first overall pick

Kyler Murray

What's the story?

If you have been keeping up with the rumor mill of late, speculation has been rife for a long time that the Arizona Cardinals were looking to move on from their rookie quarterback Josh Rosen whom they drafted last season. As a result, the franchise would be looking to draft quarterback Kyler Murray from Oklahoma with their first overall pick.

However, if reports from CBS Sports NFL insider Pete Prisco are to be believed, the Cardinals have something else in mind for the No. 1 pick.

In case you didn't know...

To say that the Arizona Cardinals were bad in the 2018 season is an understatement. They had the worst record in football last season with 3-13 and were criticized particularly for their offense. Thus, it was of no surprise that Josh Rosen came under fire too, as he had a passer rating of only 66.7 and recorded more interceptions than touchdowns.

While one could argue that Arizona had, and probably still has, an extremely underwhelming O-Line, one couldn't fault the franchise for wanting to move on from Rosen just after a year as trade rumors of him started to surface.

As a result, most speculations and reports hinted at the fact that Cardinals would now draft Murray in the 2019 NFL Draft as the first overall pick.

The heart of the matter

That Kyler Murray is a top prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft is no news at all. The 2018 Heisman Trophy winner led the Oklahoma Sooners to the Orange Bowl where they fell to Alabama. One possibly can't fault Arizona for wanting to pick him in the draft.

However, the fact that Josh Rosen, for all his caveats, had little help from the offensive line last season isn't something you can ignore either. Furthermore, if you go for Murray, Rosen needs to be shipped, which is added burden on the shoulders of the Cardinals' front office.

All these aspects could have been taken into consideration as Pete Prisco mentioned on CBS Sports HQ that the Cardinals are looking to go a different route with respect to the No. 1 pick.

"Initially, the ownership pushed for Kyler Murray. That much I know -- I was told that. The reason they did is they are having a hard time selling tickets. Well, they put it out there. Arizona was lukewarm to it. All of a sudden, they are pulling back, and from what I've been told, they are going to go in a different direction. They are not going to draft Kyler Murray."

What's next?

For what it's worth, it could simply be a ploy by Arizona to get some offers from franchises looking to move up to draft Murray now that the Cardinals are seemingly not interested. However, it does seem that the NFC West franchise is still undecided as to what action it wants to take regarding Josh Rosen.