Kyler Murray's $46 million annual salary is almost the same as the Athletics' 2022 payroll
We can finally put to bed the question of whether or not Kyler Murray made a mistake of picking football over baseball.
After Murray signed a lucrative five-year, $230.5 million contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday, his $46.1 million annual salary was almost that of the entire 2022 payroll of the Oakland Athletics the same team that drafted him ninth overall in 2018. Yes, the Athletics are only spending $48.5 million this season. If you only look at the 26-man roster, Murray's annual salary is actually higher by about $4.2 million.
This is laughable considering how many pundits believed Murray would regret forgoing his baseball career for one in the NFL.
When Murray announced in 2019 he was "fully committing" to playing football, sports journalist Rob Parker called Murray's decision "a colossal mistake" because of how much more money he could make in the MLB. Former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann believed Murray "would struggle in the NFL because of his 5-foot-10 frame, too. Others agreed, despite NFL quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Tom Brady picking football over baseball careers and eventually signing huge contracts as well.
https://sports.yahoo.com/kyler-murrays-46-million-annual-salary-almost-the-same-as-athletics-2022-payroll-185959941.html