TEMPE — Another offseason workout, another no-show for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
Having Murray in the fold would be a positive, but head coach Kliff Kingsbury isn’t too worried about his QB’s attendance for voluntary OTAs.
Mandatory minicamp is another story, however.
“I do (anticipate him back),” Kingsbury said after the first day of OTAs on Monday.
The OTAs come in the middle of an offseason filled with contract extension talk and back-and-forths between the signal caller’s camp and the organization.
As it stands Monday, Murray is set to make $5.5 million on his current rookie contract this season. He’ll see that number shoot up to $29.7 million in 2023 after the team picked up his fifth-year option this offseason.
But while the spotlight firmly remains on Murray, he was far from the only veteran Cardinal not there for the start of OTAs. Running back James Conner, wide receiver Marquise Brown, linebacker Markus Golden and offensive linemen D.J. Humphries and Rodney Hudson were among the notable no-shows along with Murray.
It’s all part of the plan for Kingsbury, who said the team has a good idea heading into the offseason program of who will and will not be at workouts.
“We’re going to be smart throughout,” the head coach said. “We understand that it’s all voluntary at this point.
“So … for some of the guys that have a great understanding of it, we want to push some reps to some of the younger guys who may not be getting as many when we get to training camp.
“I think as a coach, you want to have those guys in here all the time but it’s not how the rules are set up and different guys handle it different ways,” Kingsbury added.