Kyler Murray would have to repay baseball bonus if he chooses NFL

Pro baseball or pro football? That is the question for Kyler Murray.

Murray was drafted No. 9 overall by the Oakland Athletics in the MLB draft earlier this year after having a great season for Oklahoma in the spring. He received a $4.66 million signing bonus and was allowed by the team to play a season of college football for the Sooners. That season turned into a spectacular year for Murray, who won the Heisman Trophy and turned into a legitimate first-round pick in next year’s NFL draft.

Murray’s baseball agent Scott Boras insists his client will report to the A’s, but Murray has left the door open to choose a football career.

According to MLB Network reporter Jon Morosi, if Murray chooses a career in the NFL, he would have to repay/forgo a very large portion of his signing bonus.

Can confirm Kyler Murray’s contract with #Athletics includes a provision whereby he’d forgo/repay a very large portion of his signing bonus if he opts to play in the NFL. @MLB @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 12, 2018

A career in baseball is often viewed as being more lucrative than one in football, but the circumstances for Murray are different. NFL quarterbacks are extremely well paid. The guaranteed money for a quarterback taken anywhere in the first round of the NFL draft will almost assuredly surpass the money Murray has been guaranteed by the A’s. In baseball, Murray would have to begin in the minors and work his way up, with no guarantee of a big payoff until well after he establishes himself as a good major leaguer, which won’t be easy to do.

His path to stardom — and a larger payday — seems shorter and frankly, easier, if he chooses the NFL. Giving up the baseball money would be a wash considering the money he’d have coming to him as an NFL first-round pick.