The Cardinals Put a Homework Clause in Kyler Murray's Massive Contract Extension
By Liam McKeone
After a smidge of drama this offseason, the Arizona Cardinals reached an agreement with Kyler Murray on a massive contract extension that guarantees him $160 million and will be worth up to $230 million. It is a big bet to take on an undersized quarterback who has yet to put together a strong full season in his NFL career, but Murray's talent is not the question. It's everything else, which appears to be reinforced by one particular clause in the contract that was brought to light today.
Behold: the homework addendum.
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
The Cardinals felt the need to put, in writing, the number of hours Murray should be spending preparing for next week's game. With additional rules that forbid him from having the TV or video games on while he does so.
What the hell? What's been going on behind the scenes that led Arizona to insist on the inclusion of this clause? You'd think it would be implied that part of the job is being prepared for the days you actually do your job. It would be like one of us signing a contract that includes a clause that we'll be dressed for work every day. This is something you draw up to incentivize a troublesome teenager, not a professional football player.
Good on the Cardinals for protecting themselves, I guess, but this will be difficult to enforce and raises serious questions about the kind of player they're giving this much money to. I have doubts that other QBs in Murray's pay range need similar requirements in their contracts. Very strange.