The Buccaneers are the best Kyler Murray trade destination

By: Jake Rajala

The magician Kyler Murray, who made the Pro Bowl in 2020 and 2021, has recently cut ties with any relation to the Cardinals on social media. It appears that Murray is disgruntled with his situation in AZ and he could potentially want to be shipped out of the desert.

Murray is truly at the prime of his career. He’s 24 years old and he’s shown improvement in each season thus far. There’s hype around Russell Wilson and the potential magic he could yield on a team not named the Seattle Seahawks. Yet, it’s worth mentioning that Murray is nine years younger than Wilson and he nearly as talented as the Hawks QB at the moment.

It seems like a realistic possibility that Murray is fed up with Cardinals if he’s taken the steps to remove any Cardinals related love from his social media count in early February. If Murray finds his way out Arizona, where could the dual-threat QB land? Here are several landing spots for Murray that would make a ton of sense.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bruce Arians is a man of simple taste. He likes to drink scotch and make mega-trades for quarterbacks. The eighth wonder of the world Tom Brady is no longer a member of the NFL after throwing for a career high 5,316 passing yards in 2021. TB12 may not be ahead of Michael Jordan, but he did go down as the greatest football player of all time. The Bucs offense still has juice surrounding the QB spot and Arians may be tempted to find a talented signal-caller and fight for the second Super Bowl berth in three seasons.

The Bucs have Mike Evans and likely Chris Godwin at the WR position. Ronald Jones will also be returning as the starting RB. The defense led by Lavonte David and Todd Bowles will surely be an impressive defense yet again. Arians, who is getting to the end of his career at age 69, could insert Murray into the starting gig and come out gunz blazing in 2022.

New Orleans Saints

The second NFC South squad to make the list would be a very logical landing spot for Murray. There appears to be a lot of love for the idea of Wilson landing in NOLA, but I believe the Saints would prefer Murray over Wilson. The Saints would really have to get creative to afford Murray, as they are ranked dead last in cap space with roughly -76 million. If they exchanged a few players and a couple of early draft choices, I still believe it would be worth it for the Saints.

Much alike the Buccaneers, the Saints have one of the most talented rosters surrounding the QB. If the Saints had Murray with 2019 Offensive Player of The Year Michael Thomas, Deonte Harris, an elite offensive line when healthy, and a Top 5 defense, the Saints would easily be Super Bowl favorites. They just have to get in touch with Murray to see if it’s a mutual interest and find a way to resolve their cap issues. Nonetheless, they should go the extra mile for Wilson Murray.

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans were the number one seed with a non Top 10 QB in Ryan Tannehill. Tanny has been efficient, but he’s not a QB that can put the team on his shoulders. The Titans could include their QB in a trade to the Cards for Murray. Kliff Kingsbury would prefer to make a QB trade for Tannehill compared to Baker Mayfield in my opinion.

Mike Vrabel, who was the 2021 Coach of The Year, knows that Derrick Henry doesn’t have a lot of gas left in the tank. The Titans 6’4 235 pound RB can’t stiff arm the Titans to a Super Bowl berth by himself. Tannehill will eventually have to play like an elite QB and I’m not sure that he can outduel the likes of Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow moving forward. Tannehill is also nine years older than Murray. Vrabel should make a crafty decision to trade his QB with their second round pick for Murray this offseason.

Cleveland Browns

The divorce between Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns seems imminent. Mayfield’s ugly performance against Green Bay, where he threw four interceptions, proved to be the last straw for Kevin Stefanski and the Browns organization. When the Browns pardon Mayfield, they should target a more superb QB in return. The AFC North and NFC West squads should strike a deal with the two former first overall picks, while the Browns could send extra draft picks in the deal.

The Browns have very bright management with Andrew Berry, who was hired as the youngest GM in NFL history. Berry could include a first round pick with Baker to deliver to the NFC West squad. The Browns could take a similar jump that the Titans took in 2021 with Murray, Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett, Jarvis Landry, and Kareem Hunt. The Browns also are 12th in cap space, which is a very suitable position lure in a very expensive profile like Murray.

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers ought to be the ultimate wild card team to land Murray. The Sam Darnold experiment clearly didn’t work, as the former XFL QB PJ Walker looked more effective than him. Matt Rhule is on a hotter seat than nearly any other NFL head coach, as well. He knows that he needs to make a splash move and capitalize off the talent they have with the offensive weapons and ascending defense.

Murray and Christian McCaffrey would be a very dangerous combination in the backfield. The league’s fastest QB would also have Robby Anderson to take the top off of defenses. The Panthers could also elect to trade away McCaffrey in a deal for Murray, as he’s coming off of two injury riddled seasons. All in all, the time is ticking for Rhule to turn around the Panthers and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Honorable mentions:

Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers may be fascinated by the idea of playing with DeAndre Hopkins and AJ Green, while Murray could be the long term QB that Matt Lafleur desires. LaFleur has stated that Love isn’t quite ready to take the reigns, as well. Love hasn’t stood out in the pre-season and he put up a mere seven points in his start against the Chiefs on November 7th. A-Rod may not have imagined the idea of playing in Arizona, but it may be an idea that crosses his mind now. The Cards might even bring over Tae to play with Rodgers and Hopkins, which would really pin the AZ squad as Super Bowl favorites. J.J. Watt, who grew up in Wisconsin and played for the Badgers, could chase a Lombardi with another big Wisconsin football figure. The NFC West would flat out be entertaining if Rodgers joined the division featuring Stafford, Wilson, and Trey Lance.

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos have juice with Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant, and Tim Patrick, but they haven’t found a QB to utilize the weapons. Drew Lock’s rookie display in five games appears to be a fluke at this point, as he’s gone 4-13 over the prior two seasons. The Broncos have a Top 10 defense with or without Von Miller, but they can’t survive in the AFC West longterm without a talented QB.

The Broncos new head coach Nathaniel Hackett can find their answer at QB with Murray in and they can be more prepared to go to battle against Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert for the next decade. Teddy Bridgewater is also free agent who did well for the Broncos, but he has serious injury issues and a modest ceiling at best. Teddy B has only played one full season in his career and he hasn’t thrown more than 18 touchdowns in a single season. In addition, he has one winning season in his professional career.

Miami Dolphins

The young and motivated Mike McDaniels might have given an emotional (and cringy) call to Tua Tagovailoa, but that doesn’t mean Tua is his guy. The 38 year old head coach could send the athletic Tagovailoa to Arizona for the better dual threat QB in Kyler Murray. McDaniels is all too familiar with the ability of Murray, as they routinely clashed in the NFC West. It would be a gutsy move for McDaniels to send Tua out the door as soon as they shake hands, but it may be the right move.

Murray should be really fascinated about the idea of playing with Jaylen Waddle, Will Fuller, and DeVante Parker. The Dolphins can safely acknowledge that Josh Allen and Mac Jones won’t be leaving scoreboards with low points for many years to come. The Dolphins can’t be left in the dust in the AFC East and the acquisition of Murray would ensure that they are competitive in the ascending AFC division.