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Kyler Murray has officially announced his intentions to play in the NFL.
— Kyler Murray (@TheKylerMurray) February 11, 2019
After a couple weeks of hemming and hawing, Murray has committed himself to the NFL, even paying back most of his bonus from the Oakland Athletics:
Kyler Murray will return $1.29 million of the $1.5 million signing bonus money the Oakland A’s gave him last year. He forfeits the remaining $3.16 million due March 1. The A’s will put him on the restricted list and retain Murray’s rights, but they don’t get a comp draft pick.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 11, 2019
This will inevitably lead to a number of conversations about what the Arizona Cardinals should do regarding not only the first pick, but Kyler Murray:
Current conspiracy theory: Cardinals told Kyler Murray they'd draft him at No. 1 overall and trade Josh Rosen if he committed to football.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) February 11, 2019
As someone who has fully embraced the chaos, I’m up for whatever happens and whatever the Arizona Cardinals see as the appropriate steps moving forward.
Outside of trading down, because I’m a staunch advocate of taking the best players when you have the opportunity to.
However, what happens from here will be an intriguing thing to watch.
You have to assume an NFL team has talked to Murray and assured him they will take him somewhere high in the 2019 NFL Draft for Murray to be ready to repay that bonus money.
If it’s the Cardinals, giddy up. If it’s someone else, good luck.
No matter what, the next 73 days are going to be fantastic drama.