Kyler Murray and the controversial Arizona contract clause

The Arizona Cardinals just renewed their quarterback Kyler Murray’s contract by five years and for $230.5 million. But it was primarily the fine print, an unusual clause, that gave rise to discussion.

With the signature, he gave his consent to “deal with the upcoming game and the opponent independently for at least four hours a week”. The 24-year-old was required to engage with “club-supplied material”, which includes “material provided via an iPad or other electronic device”. No time can be counted when Murray’s attention is occupied by another activity, such as video games or television viewing.

How the Oakland Raiders once transferred their quarterback

That’s fascinating legal jargon for a requirement that seems somewhat self-evident for someone who has just risen to become one of the best-paid players in National Football League (NFL) history, raking in between $30 million and $46 million a year: be at least 16 Weeks a year to prepare halfway seriously for his job. ESPN wrote that the clause was “unprecedented”. And scores of Internet commentators wrote their fingers sore: You couldn’t possibly spend that much money on someone whose work ethic required such a clause.

It is rather astonishing that it took so long for one of the multi-billion dollar NFL organizations to secure themselves in this way. The clubs are optimized money printing machines that leave nothing to chance – why should it be any different with the most important player in the squad?

Especially since it has been clear for at least 14 years that coaches cannot rely on NFL professionals to keep their word. There’s this story of JaMarcus Russell being picked first by the Oakland Raiders in 2007, possibly the worst drafting blunder in league history. Russell, now 36, was sort of a poster boy for the sloppy genius type. Quarterback coach John DeFilippo once said to him, “Yes, Marcus, we have 20 plays prepared for this week. Here’s a DVD of those moves, please watch tonight so we can discuss the game plan tomorrow.”

The next morning, the trainer greeted Russell with the words: “Hey JaMarcus, how’s the DVD, have you checked it out?” And Russell, as his teammate Kirk Morrison later said on a TV show, replied: “Sure, Coach. I think all of the moves are great. Whatever you want to do, I’m ready.” But DeFilippo had intentionally given Russell a blank DVD. At the latest after this Sting operation, the Raiders knew that they had made an expensive mistake with serious consequences by signing the playmaker.

After three years, Russell was kicked out of the team and later briefly arrested for illegal possession of codeine syrup. In 2013, he wrote a letter to all 32 NFL teams asking for a chance and even offering to play for free, but no NFL organization took him on. Most recently, he worked as a junior coach on a high school team.

Murray prefers chess to video games – so far he has delivered some electrifying performances

The Cleveland Browns also struggled with quarterbacks who didn’t take serious preparation very seriously. Johnny Manziel missed meetings because he couldn’t resist life’s temptations, especially alcohol. And just last winter there were rumors that Baker Mayfield, now passed to Carolina, also a No. 1 draft, would rather spend 10 hours a day playing online video games than devoting himself to tactics.

The danger seemed smaller with Kyler Murray, the #1 draft of 2019. He prefers chess to video games and put in some electrifying performances in his first three seasons despite being small at 5’11 for a quarterback.

And meanwhile – after days of breathless media excitement in the USA – the discussions about his contract have also calmed down. Because on Thursday evening, the Arizona Cardinals overturned the explosive passage and wrote in a message: “After we saw how big the excitement is, we decided to waive the clause.” Even so, all eyes will be on Murray when the Cardinals start the NFL season on Sept. 11 in a smash-hit game against the Kansas City Chiefs.