Kyler Murray gets NFL Draft wish as Arizona Cardinals trade to make his pick
The Arizona Cardinals were busy early on in the NFL Draft - and traded back up to give Kyler Murray the pick he wanted.
The Cardinals originally possessed the No.3 pick, but they did a deal with the Houston Texans which saw them move back to No.12. However, they then traded back up to the sixth pick in a deal with the Detroit Lions - and used their selection to take Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson.
According to NFL Network, Murray made it clear in the Cardinals organization that he was a big fan of Johnson in the lead up to the draft. And they delivered their franchise quarterback the exact pick he wanted after having to manoeuvre their way into a position to do so.
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It's no surprise that Murray would be lobbying for an offensive lineman to give him better protection moving forwards. But it's not the first time that Murray has pushed for the Cardinals to invest picks in protecting him - and his previous NFL Draft pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
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It has been claimed he pushed for Creed Humphrey in 2021 and Tristan Wirfs in 2020, only for both to be passed up by the Cardinals as they focused elsewhere.
Entering this year's draft, Arizona had used just one 10 picks in the first four rounds in the last three years on an offensive lineman. They also used seven of those picks on defensive players but now look to be finally investing in help for Murray.
Kyler Murray penned a big-money contract extension last year (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)The No.1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Murray signed a five-year, $230.5million contract extension in July last year, with $160million being guaranteed. He suffered a torn ACL in week 14 last season prematurely ending his season.
But there are high hopes entering a new era with Jonathan Gannon taking over as head coach from Kliff Kingsbury.
Just before the draft got underway, the Cardinals settled a tampering investigation with the Eagles regarding the hiring of Gannon. The Eagles traded pick number 94 in this year's draft and a 5th round pick in 2024 for the Cardinals' number 66 pick this year.
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