Cardinals get C- grade after failed ‘Kyler Murray experiment’

The 2026 NFL free agency period brought a bevy of surprises, as always, but some of the moves were quite expected.

One of the more expected moves in free agency was the Arizona Cardinals releasing Kyler Murray, who found a new home with the Minnesota Vikings.

Now, NFL experts and analysts are grading each team’s moves, including the Cardinals, and judging those roster changes. Following the free agency period, the next large event up ahead is the 2026 NFL draft, which is set for April in Pittsburgh.

In a Friday, February 13 feature for NBC Sports, Kyle Dvorchak grades each NFL team’s free agency changes and moves.

“With the legal tampering period giving teams free rein to start free agency early, most of the big names have found new homes,” Dvorchak explains in the feature. “Now that the first few waves are behind us, this is how each team grades out from free agency and any recent trades.”

For the Arizona Cardinals, he gives them a dismal C- grade.

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“To be fair to the Cardinals, I’m not sure what they could have done to drastically improve their team in free agency,” Dvorchak notes in the feature. “The Kyler Murray experiment finally reached its disappointing conclusion in 2025 and they chose not to chase a long-term starter to replace him in free agency.”

He adds, “Now they‘re heading into the season with Jacoby Brissett as their QB1 and Gardner Minshew as his backup. Kudos to them for admitting defeat this early and playing for a 2027 draft.”

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 Finally, Dvorchak adds that the team “signed just two other contracts worth $12 million or more: Tyler Allgeier and Kendrick Bourne. Having already renegotiated James Conners’ deal to keep him in-house, it’s hard to make sense of the Allgeier signing. Bourne is a solid depth wideout, but nothing more.”

In general, he’s not a fan of their moves, but it’s just his opinion, and this team could certainly prove him wrong.