In his five-year stint in Arizona, Kyler Murray has been marred by injuries and has shown an inability to lead when push comes to shove — two traits you don’t want in a franchise QB. Amidst the fanbase split in opinion on the club having faith in Murray for yet another season, former Cardinals WR Brice Butler, in a recent podcast appearance, openly aired his lack of belief in Murray as the franchise QB.
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Barring a decent 2021 season, it’s no secret that the Cardinals have been disappointing over the last two years. While the team’s failure has seen many NFL fans demand that Kyler Murray switch to a better team, Brice Butler believes that Murray is also a part of the Cardinals’ problems.
Despite not being teammates with Murray, the former NFL wideout cited his insider information on the Caps Off Podcast and said that Murray’s lack of leadership skills has been a major reason behind Arizona’s offensive woes.
“Kyler’s not popping off anywhere because the thing that people don’t know about Kyler is he’s not really a leader. And people don’t really surround themselves around him,” Butler said.
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Butler argued that the notion of Kyler winning accolades in a better team is false because his lack of leadership would be a hindrance wherever he goes. The former wide receiver noted that quarterbacks are naturally the leaders of the team. Thus, when the inherent voice of command fails to deliver, it’s natural for the rest of the chain of command to falter as well.
“They just look at his talent and go like, oh, he can go anywhere and transcend. He’s not a leader. You have to be a leader to be a quarterback, dog. And if you’re a quarterback that can’t stand in front of your guy and say, hey, that was on me today… That’s the problem,” Butler added.
While Kyler’s lack of leadership is something that an insider like Brice could reveal, the former Cardinals player also shared a publicly overlooked fact that further raised doubts over the star QB’s credentials.
“He Had a Watch Tape Clause”: Brice Butler Exposes Kyler Murray’s Laziness
One of the common arguments against Kyler Murray over the years has been his inability to stay consistent. Every season, he starts strong but fizzles out with his team as the season progresses.
Brice argued that a part of Murray’s inconsistency is due to his prioritizing distractions like playing “Call of Duty.” “It’s always the half a year [on Kyler’s presence in the NFL MVP race]… Then it’s playing Call of Duty,” brutally reasoned Butler.
The ex-Cardinals receiver didn’t mince words as he continued to highlight Kyler Murray’s laziness with yet another fact. Butler pointed out to the hosts that Kyler Murray is amongst the rare cases where a player has “a watch tape clause” in his contract.
Watching film reels and footage of the opposition before a match is the basic level of preparation that each team does. Butler noted that the fact that this had to be involved as a “Homework Clause” tells all one needs to know about Kyler Murray’s laziness.
“Just think about this. It’s kind of like the Kendrick and the Drake stuff, right? Like the factual thing that we know about; about Kyler Murray is; he’s the only guy in history that we’ve known to where he had a watch tape clause. That’s crazy. That should tell you all you need to know,” Butler said of Murray’s clause.
That being said, Brice Butler does make some convincing inferences based on Kyler Murray’s actions over the years. But it’s also not fair to pin all the blame on the QB as well. Kyler is part of the problem, but he is an elite talent, nonetheless.
With Marvin Harrison Jr. strengthening the offensive front, he will certainly have quality target pieces around him. The rookie WR is also a great leader himself. Thus, it will be interesting to see if Marvin Jr.’s inclusion is the missing piece to unlocking Kyler Murray.
