NFL Rumors: Kyler Murray May Not Be Number One Pick, Cardinals Putting Up ‘Smoke Screen,’ Claims Jay Glazer
Kyler Murray, the Heisman Trophy-winning former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback, has been widely expected to be the first player picked in the 2019 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals, who own that overall number one selection. In fact, as Inquisitr reported, new Cardinals Coach Kliff Kingsbury has reportedly told acquaintances in the NFL that his team’s pick of Murray is already a “done deal.”
But the deal to pick Murray first overall may not be so done after all, at least not according to Fox Sports NFL “insider” reporter Jay Glazer, who wrote on The Athletic on Thursday that the Cardinals may simply be putting up a “smoke screen” by leaking their supposed intention to spend that top draft pick on Murray.
While the Cardinals themselves may be feigning their interest in Murray “in the hope that teams call about a trade for Josh Rosen,” according to NFL Trade Rumors, Glazer wrote that “half” of the rumors connecting Arizona to Murray between now and the April 25 NFL draft are coming from “other teams who are either trying to screw with the Cardinals or are trying to get Murray to drop.”
The Cardinals have also been widely rumored to be shopping Rosen, the former UCLA signal-caller who was their first-round pick, 10th overall, in the 2018 draft. Washington, the New York Giants, and even the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots have been mentioned in they rumors as potential destinations for quarterback, as The Inquisitr reported.
But if there is a whisper campaign behind the scenes to cause a downgrade of Murray on the NFL draft board, it suddenly sprang to the surface this week when NFL Network analyst and former Houston Texans General Manager Charlie Casserly unleashed a string of unsubstantiated innuendo about Murray, during an on-air interview.
no idea if what charley casserly says about kyler murray is true. but he’s gotta know how it sounded. #highnoon pic.twitter.com/ytwWZGxKGX
— bomani (@bomani_jones) March 6, 2019
Casserly said that he had heard reaction to Murray’s interview at the NFL combine, and that the comments were “not good.” In fact, as quoted by NFL Media, Casserly said the reports on Murray were the worst he’d ever heard regarding a “high-rated quarterback.”
“Leadership? Not good. Study habits? Not good,” Casserly said. “The [white]board work? Below not good. Not good at all in any of those areas and raising major concerns about what this guy is going to do.”
Murray’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, quickly responded to the Casserly comments, according to The Washington Post.
“When you slander the character and work ethic of a young man who’s worked his a** off his entire life and done everything right to put himself in his current position, you’d better cite your sources and come with a better record than 18-46 as a GM of the Texans,” Burkhardt said.
