The idea of the Arizona Cardinals taking any player other than Kyler Murray with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft has seemed farfetched for the majority of the offseason, but there are at least some people who believe it is becoming closer to a reality.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah tweeted on Monday that he was 90 percent confident two weeks ago that the Cardinals would draft Murray. That confidence has dramatically decreased since.
April 1st confidence meter:
Kyler Murray will be 1st overall pick
(90%)April 15th confidence meter:
Kyler Murray will be 1st overall pick (60%)— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) April 15, 2019
Why the change? Jeremiah says he doesn’t understand why Murray would be visiting with so many teams if he already has a handshake agreement — or close to it — in place with the Cardinals.
So many team visits. If it’s an inside job (understood between player, team & agent), why take all of the visits? A couple in top 5…I get. Not the rest. Just a hunch. Doesn’t feel like a done deal.
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) April 15, 2019
Murray took official visits last week with the New York Giants, who have the No. 6 overall pick, and Washington Redskins, who are scheduled to pick at No. 15. Washington would almost certainly have to trade up to draft Murray, but the fact that the Heisman Trophy winner took a visit with them indicates he feels there is at least a chance he won’t wind up in Arizona.
It’s possible Murray is just keeping all of his options open, and the Cardinals could be hesitant to give him a commitment because they want to protect the trade value of Josh Rosen, who is said to be drawing interest from multiple teams.
