It sounds like Kyler Murray's time in Arizona is over. The former No. 1 overall pick was placed on the IR with a midfoot sprain this week, paving the way for Jacoby Brissett to continue quarterbacking the team after three strong starts for Arizona.
That leaves Murray's future up in the air. He's under contract for two more seasons before a team option in 2028, but a post-June 1 trade next year wouldn't be awful for Arizona as far as the cap goes: a $10.7 million 2026 dead cap hold and a $7.2 million 2027 dead cap hold, which is definitely doable. There are definitely paths for Arizona to move Murray and do a full reset, but where would he go?
Let's rank Kyler Murray trade destinations from the most likely to the wildcards that would be fun, even if they're long shots.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers look set to find themselves in a familiar spot this offseason. The team is too good to get an early draft pick to take a rookie quarterback and also too bad to be a viable title contender. More than likely, Pittsburgh will once again be looking for a quarterback who they can win with now to avoid having to rebuild.
Out of all the options from the past few years, Murray is probably the most appealing. He's still young, so there's a potential future there, unlike when the team added Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers. He's got some arm talent, which is an upgrade over Justin Fields. He's not Kenny Pickett, which is better than if he were Kenny Pickett.
2. Miami Dolphins
I'm assuming here that the Dolphins give Mike McDaniel another chance. If they fire McDaniel, then the team should just tear it all down and rebuild, but if they decide to give McDaniel one more shot, doing so with a talented, veteran quarterback in Murray would be fun.
Like Arizona, Miami has a quarterback problem, as its former first-round pick is clearly not the guy to lead the team to a title. The difference is that while Tua Tagovailoa looks basically done already, Murray might still have some juice, especially with a creative offensive mind like McDaniel calling the shots.
3. Las Vegas Raiders
Has Geno Smith lost it? After revitalizing his career with the Seahawks, Smith's move to Las Vegas this year has been a nightmare. Sure, injuries to his receiving corps have hurt, but that can't be the only reason that Smith has already thrown an NFL-worst 12 interceptions, right?
The 2-7 Raiders might end up with a shot at a top quarterback in the draft, but does Pete Carroll really want to coach a rebuild? Vegas could trade its early first for a nice haul, then trade some part of that haul for Murray. He'd be an instant upgrade over the 2025 version of Geno.
4. New York Jets
The Jets should be bad enough to draft Fernando Mendoza or Ty Simpson, which is why they're this far down, but New York has a handful of winnable games left. What if they win those and wind up in a situation where New Orleans and Cleveland, two teams that need quarterbacks, are ahead of them? In the case, the team might be looking at one of two paths to get a quarterback: settle for whoever falls to them or give a wild offer to the Titans to move up.
Maybe there's another way? The Jets struck out with the Justin Fields acquisition, but a healthy Murray is a much better passer than Fields. He'd have Garrett Wilson to throw the ball to, though I do worry that there's not enough talent around Murray in New York, especially if Breece Hall moves on in the offseason. This might be a bad landing spot for his game, even if it would be a massive upgrade for Arizona.
5. Carolina Panthers
For this to happen, the Panthers would need to officially give up on former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young. At the moment, I don't see that happening unless they have a path to land a quarterback who is even better than Murray, but there's still time for things to fall apart down the stretch.
This would be a great landing spot if it happens, though. Murray would immediately have a go-to alpha receiver in Tetairoa McMillan as well as a run game that's proven to be very good this season.
Add in that the NFC South feels very winnable going forward. A lot of Tampa's best players don't have much time left in their careers. New Orleans is rebuilding. Atlanta probably is going to realize soon that Michael Penix Jr. isn't their answer. Murray could have Carolina hosting a home playoff game next season.