Oakland Athletics: Kyler Murray Chooses the NFL, Can You Blame Him?
By Manny Gómez
On Monday two-sport athlete Kyler Murray made it official that he is fully committed to the NFL over the Oakland Athletics. Can you blame him?
Last June, the Oakland Athletics took a risk when drafting two-sport athlete Kyler Murray with the ninth overall pick in the June amateur draft.
Then Murray went ahead and had himself a Heisman Trophy-winning season with the Oklahoma Sooner’s, catapulting him, according to projections, to the first round in the upcoming NFL draft.
So, as any sensible two-sport athlete would do, on Monday, Kyler Murray committed to the NFL.
Why?
Well, it’s because of what the NFL can offer their players, especially a first rounder, that MLB does not.
First, there’s the money. Last season, five quarterbacks were selected in the first round. All of whom were given guaranteed contracts larger than what Kyler Murray agreed to with the Athletics ($4.66M).
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- Baker Mayfield – 4-yr, $32.7M guaranteed and a $21.9M signing bonus.
- Sam Darnold – 4-yr, $30.25M and a $20.1M signing bonus.
- Josh Allen – 4-yr, $21.2M and a $13.5M signing bonus.
- Josh Rosen – 4-yr, $17.6M and a $10.9M signing bonus
- Lamar Jackson – 4-yr, $9.5M and a $5M signing bonus
Then, there’s the waiting game. In the NFL, Kyler Murray could potentially start games this coming season. Whereas with the MLB, he’d have to travel through the minors before reaching the majors.
Think of a player like Aaron Judge. There’s no denying that Judge is a premier superstar in MLB. However, after being drafted by the New York Yankees in 2013, it took Judge three years to make it to the bigs. Now, Judge will be 31 by the time he is eligible for free agency, at which point teams will do their best to low-ball him.
Think of players like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, two of the few players that made it to the majors before their 20th birthday. Both are free agents at age 26 and with Spring Training officially underway, neither has signed with a team and will likely settle for lesser contracts than any of us were anticipating.
Next. Murray heading to the NFL. dark
So, I don’t blame Kyler Murray for choosing the NFL. I blame MLB for not giving super athletes an incentive to want to play baseball.