The Arizona Cardinals are back in pole position for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
After a shocking early-season win against the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona had taken itself out of the top spot, but the Carolina Panthers became the last team in the NFL this season to get in the win column and, in doing so, handed the No. 1 pick back to the Cardinals if the draft order happened today.
With another first-round pick coming their way courtesy of the Houston Texans from their trade for Will Anderson Jr., the Cardinals are likely to be one of the power players at the top of the draft, which means they have big decisions to make.
The first of which is what to do with Kyler Murray.
A No. 1 overall pick in his own right, Murray was both drafted and re-signed to a monster contract by the previous regime before getting injured.
General manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon have no ties to Murray, and they have yet to see him work in the current setup. Any evaluation they have done on him was in a different offense, one that had its detractors.
Murray has been medically cleared to play after recovering from his ACL injury, and while the team isn’t going to risk rushing him back, given a 1-7 record, they do want to get some real tape on him to evaluate whether it's worth sticking with their big-money quarterback or looking to move on through the draft.
Job No. 1 for the Cardinals is to try and evaluate Murray without setting him up for failure by rushing him back from injury.
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