Why Seahawks fans should be happy Kyler Murray signed an extension

The Cardinals signed Kyler Murray to an extension this week. This is why Seahawks fans should be happy about Murray’s new deal.

This article isn’t all about how Kyler Murray should be better than he is; Some of this is not his fault. Murray would be further along in his NFL career had he had better direction from his coaching staff since was taken first overall in the 2019 draft. But his head coach Kliff Kingsbury seems hellbent on finding ways for his teams to not be good in the second halves of seasons.

Murray isn’t a bad quarterback. He has the physical skills to be a very good one. His arm strength is very good and his running ability is ridiculous. Yet his career record is only 22-23-1 and he has never won a playoff game. His only quarterback rating above 100 was last year when his QBR was 100.6. This ranked 8th in the league.

Factoring in his total QBR (which incorporates all else besides passing), Murray was 7th-best in 2021. In 2019 and 2020, he ranked outside the top 10.

Kyler Murray’s extension with the Cardinals is a good thing for the Seahawks

But Murray’s success, or lack thereof, against the Seahawks is why 12s should be happy that the Cardinals just signed Murray to a five-year extension that should keep him in Arizona until 2028. Murray is 2-3 against Seattle. He averages 245 yards passing a game against the Seahawks but on 36 passes a game. That’s not good.

In the last two games against Seattle, Murray has been sacked a total of 8 times even though Seattle hasn’t had a good pass rush in most other games. Murray might be doing the Russell Wilson thing and holding on to the ball too long.

And it isn’t like the Cardinals haven’t had good players. Murray has played with DeAndre Hopkins on offense and the Cardinals defense has had players such as Chandler Jones. Arizona isn’t likely to be much better in 2025, say than they were in 2021. But the Seahawks should be.

Seattle knows how to defend against Murray and their defenses should only get better with younger players and more speed and better coaching in the next few years than the ones Murray has faced. Murray simply shouldn’t scare the Seahawks and 12s.

Keeping him in Arizona keeps Arizona means Arizona will probably maintain the same level of success. This means not any better than Seattle the last few years but Seattle should only get better after 2022 while Murray is stuck in Arizona through 2028.