“The obvious one, as we said earlier, is Minnesota,” writes Breer when asked which top NFL teams are interested in Murray. “Who else? Well, the Jets could potentially give him a shot to start, and the Dolphins might be interested. Getting him at the minimum for a year would make sense for a team carrying all the Tua Tagovailoa money into 2026 (after presumably cutting him). The Colts and Falcons are in a separate category.”
“If the Colts re-sign Daniel Jones, both teams will have rehabbing quarterbacks who will have to really push to be back for the opener, and quarterback-friendly head coaches with strong development track records. So if Murray goes to either, he’d get starter reps through spring and summer, perhaps an opportunity to play early in the year, and the chance to reset under Shane Steichen or Kevin Stefanski.”
“Which wouldn’t be the worst thing (and I have heard Murray has interest in Indy).”
Still only 28-years-old, the former #1 overall pick, 2x NFL Pro Bowler, and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, who had an impressive start to his pro career with the Cardinals, is clearly at a bit of a career crossroads—after experiencing earlier shine, but now presumably finds himself on his way out of Arizona.
Because of a lingering foot injury, he was limited to just 5 starts in 2025, completing 110 of 161 pass attempts (68.3%) for 962 total passing yards, 6 passing touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.
However, in 2024, he started all 17 games for the Cardinals, completing 372 of 541 total pass attempts (68.8%) for 3,851 total passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He also rushed for 572 total rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns on 78 total carries two years ago—averaging 7.3 yards per carry.
While at a smaller stature for a starting NFL quarterback, at a listed 5’10”, 210 pounds, Murray of course offers dual-threat mobility—having run a blistering fast 4.38 at his Oklahoma Pro Day back in 2019 before entering that year’s NFL Draft and becoming the top pick as a dual-sport athlete (having also been drafted 9th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft by the MLB’s A’s franchise, signing with them, but never playing for them professionally).
Colts head coach Shane Steichen obviously has great familiarity coaching dynamic starting NFL quarterbacks, with the elite ability to run, having previously coached both the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts and even Anthony Richardson—although the latter for lesser success.
With all of that being said, the great advantage to signing Murray right now—for the Colts or anyone else for that matter, is that the Cardinals have already guaranteed to pay him $36.8 million for 2026, which means at least for next season, he’ll be playing for his next NFL team at the league minimum.
Regardless of whether Colts free agent starting quarterback Daniel Jones has already “mastered the Indy offense cerebrally” or has a “great rapport with Steichen,” coming off a torn Achilles suffered late in the season, it seems pretty sensible that Indianapolis would be getting “more bang for the buck” with Murray at the NFL minimum over Jones at his current transition tag rate of $37.833 million—at least for the 2026 campaign.
Particularly when one reasonably considers, that the Colts could use that cap savings from signing Murray, as opposed to signing Jones, to aid in their efforts to re-sign other priority free agent wideout Alec Pierce, or even bring in key veterans at positions of need, including, but not limited to, Cincinnati Bengals former All-Pro pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who like Pierce is an untagged pending free agent, or former Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke, who’s routinely adept in coverage and was recently released by the New York Giants in a salary cap savings maneuver.
However, it seems much more likely than not that Jones, being a recipient of Indianapolis’s transition tag, and providing them with the opportunity to match if he signs an NFL offer sheet elsewhere, is the obvious frontrunner to be the Colts starting quarterback next season—unless a dark horse surprisingly emerges (maybe the Minnesota Vikings, who also like Murray?) and somehow prices the Horseshoe out in the process.
While Murray would be yet another new Week1 opener starting quarterback for the Colts in an embarrassingly long and increasingly lengthy list, he could at least provide a ‘Plan B’ and maybe some surprising extra leverage, if somehow Jones re-signing with Indianapolis shockingly reaches a snag or breaking off point in free agency.
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