Arizona Cardinals remove controversial clause in Kyler Murray's contract

When news broke that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had an “independent study” clause in his contract, eyebrows rose across the game. Well, the Cardinals did an about-face this week.

Arizona removed the clause, which required Murray to take part in four hours of “independent study” during each week of the season except the bye, the team said in a statement. The decision to remove it came on Wednesday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

“After seeing the distraction it created, we removed the addendum from the contract,” the statement read. “It was clearly perceived in ways that were never intended. Our confidence in Kyler Murray is as high as it’s ever been and nothing demonstrates our belief in his ability to lead this team more than the commitment reflected in this contract.”

The clause generated plenty of conversation, and Murray responded in a press conference on Thursday and had a message for his critics.

“I’ve put in an incomprehensible amount of time, blood, sweat, tears and work into what I do. Whether it’s football or baseball,” Murray said, via ArizonaSports.com’s Kevin Zimmerman. “People can’t even comprehend the amount of time that it takes to play two sports at a high level out of college, let alone be the first person to do it ever at my size. Like I said, it’s funny.”

ESPN analyst Booger McFarland was among the group of people to weigh in on the controversial clause, saying it showed a lack of trust between the organization and Murray.

“We don’t think you work hard enough,” McFarland wrote in a Twitter thread. “And for them to put this in a contract means they don’t trust you cause they could’ve easily had a convo off the record directly with Kyler and we would’ve never known.”

Murray, a former Oklahoma star, agreed to a five-year, $230 million contract this week, ending an offseason saga about a new deal.

On3’s Stephen Samra and Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.