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The Arizona Cardinals officially announced the release of quarterback Kyler Murray on Wednesday (March 11), the official day of the 2026 NFL calendar year and the Minnesota Vikings reportedly "plan to make a push for" him now that he's entered free agency, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
"The Vikings plan to make a push for Kyler Murray and are the favorite to land the former No. 1 overall pick, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Finally released today by Arizona, Murray will take his time and wants to speak with interested teams. But Minnesota is the team to beat," Pelissero wrote on his X account. "The Cardinals owe Kyler Murray $36.8M fully guaranteed this season, so the expectation is he'll sign a one-year minimum deal. If it is indeed in Minnesota, he would compete with J.J. McCarthy for the starting job."
Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort shared a statement confirming Murray's release on the team's official X account Wednesday.
"With today's start of the new league year and transactions now official, we want to thank Kyler for everything he has done for this organization over the last seven years," Ossenfort said. "We are extremely grateful for his contributions both on the field and off and we wish him nothing but the absolute best moving forward."
Murray was limited to just five starts in 2025 due to a mid-foot sprain he sustained in Week 5 and was shut down in December after it was reported that his injury was not healing as expected. The former Heisman Trophy winner was selected by the Cardinals at No. 1 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft and was the 2019 NFL Rookie of the Year, as well as a Pro Bowler during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but has been limited by injuries, having played 11 or less games in three of the last four seasons.