NFL Column/Advance Potential

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray signed a five-year, $230 million deal after a period of acrimongering with the team

Extend the contract. The deal amounts to an advance on his outstanding record and star status, and it sets the bar for quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, who have yet to sign new deals, and is expected to reach even larger sums.

Murray gets an average salary of $46.5 million, $160 million of which is guaranteed only to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Murray is guaranteed 69.4% of his contract, more than Bill's Josh Allen for a contract of similar size and length. The $161.7 million guaranteed injury is also higher than Allen's deal with Patrick Mhomes of the Chiefs, highlighting the appeal of the paper.

Murray got about that, and he opened the season with a seven-game winning streak last season, but the talk about his top 10 quarterbacks is constant. Despite his ability to play the long ball, the maturity and reliability of his on-the-spot judgment, and when to break the playoff win drought, will be the focus of attention next season. The deal is an advance on his ability to take the Cardinals further into the future and certainly puts him under a lot of pressure.

But when the Cardinals struggled with turbulence late last season, they lost ace receiver DeAndre Hopkins; He will serve another six-game suspension for the new season, which could be damaging for Murray and the Cardinals. It is not easy to objectively evaluate his strength and value. It's actually a little unfair on Murray, too.

And with Murray's deal with Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson having an anchor effect, the Ravens' Jackson and even the Bengals' Joe Burrow and Chargers' Justin Herbert I expect to get better deals.