SI'com's Albert Breer: Inside the Kyler Murray decision

[badgervike]

Like I said..if KOC replaces Wes Phillips...you'll know he's feeling the heat. The reorganization is almost always a prelude to change.

[purplefaithful]

Phillips already should have been gone imo...

[StickierBuns]

Like I said..if KOC replaces Wes Phillips...you'll know he's feeling the heat.  The reorganization is almost always a prelude to change.

Watch how much 'better' Phillips coaches when you have improved QB1 play and a healthy offensive line.

[purplefaithful]

You know we love our overreactions. And there is absolutely no time of year that is better for overreactions than NFL free agency.

Your favorite team goes out there the first day of the negotiation period and spends big, adding players you know at positions where it needs help, and it's easy to let your offseason fan brain dream. The fact is, some of these moves might have a 2024 Saquon Barkley-level impact on the teams that make them ... but most of them won't quite live up to lofty expectations. Some might flop completely. The fact that we don't know which ones are which is a huge part of the fun.

I picked out a few situations that came up during last week's frenzy and took a shot at predicting whether they'll live up to the hype. So please enjoy this special mid-March edition of judging overreactions -- where we sort out which big takeaways are legitimate. And forget I said what I said in the second sentence when I say the same thing about the NFL draft six weeks from now.

J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr. are both done as starting QBs

The Vikings signed Kyler Murray, and the Falcons signed Tua Tagovailoa, thrusting those veterans into ostensible competitions with the 10th and eighth overall picks from the 2024 draft, respectively. McCarthy is coming off a terrible and injury-plagued first NFL season after missing his entire rookie season due to a knee injury. He entered the offseason healthy, but after throwing 12 interceptions and taking 27 sacks in his 10 starts last season, he has given the Vikings reason to doubt whether he'll turn out to be the quarterback they thought he was when they moved up a spot to draft him.

And Penix opened the 2025 season as the Falcons' starter, but he missed the final eight games of the season due to a torn ACL in his left knee. It's unclear how much time Penix, who had two ACL reconstructions done on his right knee in college, will need before he can come back and play.

Verdict: OVERREACTION

Murray and Tagovailoa are big names, but are they slam dunks? Murray missed 12 games last season due to injury, and the Cardinals just released him with $36.8 million in guaranteed money left on his contract. Tagovailoa got benched with three games left in the season for performance reasons, and the Dolphins just cut him with $54 million in guaranteed money left on his contract. Combined, the teams that drafted these two players are paying them $90.8 million to not play for them. And neither Arizona nor Miami appears set at the position.

All of this is to say that Murray and Tagovailoa don't come without some legitimate concerns. Murray is very likely to end up starting ahead of McCarthy, unless a light comes on this offseason and McCarthy performs well enough in the summer to beat him out. But the Vikings aren't ready to give up on McCarthy just yet, and they're hoping Murray's arrival has a positive impact on him. The Atlanta story is different; my sense is the Falcons view Penix as the starter once he's healthy and Tagovailoa is just there for coverage in case he isn't ready.

Both Murray and Tagovailoa arrive in their new homes with a lot to prove themselves. Don't assume they're there to take jobs away from guys who were top-10 picks a lot more recently than they were.

ESPN/Graziano

[purplefaithful]

Certainly no shortage of opinions out there...

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/48194391

[badgervike]

Interesting that Breer mentions that there was a brief conversation with Murray about adding a 2nd year to the contract. I'll bet it was brief. Hey, I'm happy they asked about it. But obviously not surprised Murray turned it down.

My guess is it was a discussion about leaving in the option for the Vikings to tag Murray at the end of the season and not really a 2nd year of a contract.

[purplefaithful]

If he did sign a 2nd year option here, would the Vikings have been on the hook for the $19.7mm guarantee the cards had in contract for 27?

I know that was a motivator for AZ to cut him out right when they did and pay his salary in 26

[purplefaithful]

In case you were wondering about that Parlour Burger KM and his agent made a bee-line for...They have an outlet at USB stadium if you are in town for a game this year...

The Parlour Burger is generally considered one of the best in the Twin Cities, with its melt-in-the-mouth combo of ground chuck, ribeye and brisket, finished with white American cheese on an egg bun.

Murray won’t have far to go to find another when he’s playing for the Vikings later this year, with U.S. Bank Stadium one of the seven locations Parlour sells its burgers, the others being its three Twin Cities restaurants (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Excelsior), its roaming food truck, and at Target Field and Huntington Bank Stadium.