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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray doesn’t care how his offseason push to a new contract affects his perceptions.
“My teammates, my coaches, they know who I am,” Murray said on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens told Erin Andrews of Fox Sports during preseason. “They know how much effort I put into it, so all the outside noise won’t distract me.”
Mo Lee was the catalyst for Arizona’s offseason. After weeks of speculation that he was unhappy with the team, Murray said through his agent that he wanted a new contract. The Cardinals met his demands, signing him to a $230.5 million extension last month through 2028. The 25-year-old ranks second in the NFL with $46.1 million in average annual value behind Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers.
Despite the historic deal, Arizona was soon due to add a clause in Murray’s contract that required him every He was slammed for studying four hours of film a week. Amid a lot of criticism, the team eventually removed the “independent research” clause from the contract.
If that wasn’t enough, Murray missed an earlier training camp time after testing positive for COVID-19. Murray said Sunday that the turmoil of the offseason had an impact on the team, but he believed they were ready to overcome it.
” I think there’s a lot of negativity around the building, there’s a lot of negativity around the team, this negativity It’s contagious and takes over, and I think a lot of people feel it,” Murray said. “We know what we need to do next. It’s been a great camp, the guys have been working hard and we’re excited about this season.”
Murray and the Cardinals will kick off the 2022 season on Sept. 11 with a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
