NFL odds: Lines on Kyler Murray's next team, from Buccaneers to Packers
After jumping off to a spectacular 8-1 start to the NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals were at the forefront of playoff conversations and near the top of the Super Bowl futures.
Then the Cards lost four of their last five regular-season games, skid into playoffs as a wild-card team and suffered a lopsided 34-11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Could Arizona's tailspin after a promising start have quarterback Kyler Murray looking for a new team?
On Monday, Murray unfollowed the Cards on social media and deleted all posts of him wearing his Arizona jersey. After those moves, bettors are on high alert as they wait for opportunities to wager on which team may get Murray as a starter next season.
As we've seen time and time again, anything can happen in the NFL. As quarterbacks like Jimmy Garoppolo and possibly Aaron Rodgers do the quarterback shuffle, it's exciting to throw another QB in the mix from a gambling perspective.
With that said, let's look at FOX Bet's hypothetical odds for where Murray might end up next season.
ODDS ON KYLER MURRAY'S NEXT TEAM*
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Denver Broncos: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Retire and play for an MLB team: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Green Bay Packers: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)
Pittsburgh Steelers: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
New York Giants: +1000 (bet $10 to win$110 total)
Indianapolis Colts: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Washington Commanders: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
*Odds as of 2/7/2022
According to FOX Bet commercial manager Jacob Blangsted-Barnor, Murray to the Buccaneers would make sense.
"Tampa Bay has a tight window to capitalize off the Super Bowl-caliber pieces that surrounded a now-retired Tom Brady, which is why Tampa springs to mind immediately as a team that will be looking for a quarterback. If Kyler leaves Arizona, it's not going to be for a team that doesn't have weapons. The Bucs have weapons, so this is a good potential landing spot for him."
Other tidbits that stand out:
- From Teddy Bridgewater to Drew Lock, the Broncos have had more problems at the quarterback position than solutions. Could Murray move from the NFC West to the AFC West and help alleviate Denver's quarterback woes? "Denver has a decent team to put around the right QB, but they just haven’t found the one yet," Blangsted-Barnor said.
- While Rodgers' fate at Lambeau remains in limbo, the oddsmaker said A-Rod leaving Green Bay could work for both the Packers and the Cards. "A Kyler-for-Aaron swap between Green Bay and Arizona would solve two problems for two franchises at once," he stated.
- Ben Roethlisberger's retirement after 18 seasons as the Steelers' starting QB leaves a vacancy in Pittsburgh. Coach Mike Tomlin could use a playmaker with Murray's skill-set to complement the dominant Steelers' defense.
- What about baseball? Murray, after all, was drafted ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in 2018, and they still own his rights. But Blangsted-Barnor doesn't think Murray will lean that way just yet. "Whether Murray would play MLB instead of football was a question when he came into the NFL. But he has got to know that, under the worst-case scenario, he could retire from football and go back to baseball," Blangsted-Barnor explained.
So there you have it, folks. Will Kyler Murray be Arizona's starting quarterback again next year, or will he land with a new organization? Stay tuned!
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