The Arizona Cardinals and the Tennessee Titans wrap up the preseason portion of their schedules on Saturday in Tennessee. The Cardinals spent their offseason carefully navigating through a long-term deal with quarterback Kyler Murray. The Titans parted with some key veterans in the offseason, most notably the team's leading receiver for the past few seasons, A.J. Brown. Each team is coming off a playoff season, have veteran, talented teams and have aspirations of a Super Bowl run in 2022. Get set to enjoy the final dress rehearsal before the 2022 season gets underway. The opening kickoff is set for 7:00pm EST.
After a bit of a rocky start to the offseason that included a brief social media boycott of his team, Kyler Murray and the Cardinals settled down to the negotiating table and came up with a resolution. The Cardinals gave Murray a five-year contract extension. The deal is worth $230.5 million overall with $160 million of that guaranteed. Murray is now a Cardinal through at least the 2028 season, a time period both Murray and the Cardinals hope will result in a Super Bowl run or two along the way. This preseason, the Cardinals have been painfully guarded with their future, as Murray has yet to see any action on the field. The Cardinals have focused much of their attention this preseason addressing the #2 running back position behind starter James Conner. The team lost Chase Edmonds to free agency this offseason and now have Jonathan Ward, Eno Benjamin and Darrel Williams all vying for that #2 spot.
The Cardinals also ha ve a fight for the #3 quarterback position behind Murray and his primary backup, Colt McCoy. Trace McSorley and Jarrett Guarantano have both seen extended action this preseason fighting for the #3 position on the Cardinals' quarterback depth chart.
“I thought it was a little up and down,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said about McSorley. “I think he was trying a little too hard against his old team to start, but he is scrappy, he continues to make plays. I thought we moved the ball well at times.”
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— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 26, 2022
It is hard to imagine Kingsbury deviating at all from his position thus far this preseason in regards to Murray's playing time. He will certainly dress in the finale but beyond a drive or two, he will likely be holding a clipboard. The Cardinals are a veteran team already dealing with the suspension of #1 wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and minor injuries and illnesses to veterans like TE Zach Ertz and DL J.J. Watt. This will be a dress rehearsal in the strictest sense for the Cards; they will be, in fact, dressed but don't expect to see much field action.