And then there was one.
Aaron Murray is the fifth of six Kansas City Chiefs draft picks to have signed his contract, multiple reports confirm. Here are some of the famous people who announced the signing.
QB Aaron Murray has signed his Chiefs contract
— Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) May 21, 2014
The #Chiefs have signed QB Aaron Murray.
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) May 21, 2014
Over the Cap suggests Murray’s contract will be worth in total around $2,402,424 with an $182,424 signing bonus. His cap number this year will be $465,606 and top out at $735,413 should Murray stick around for the full contract.
Kansas City desperately needed to start developing their own quarterbacks, and not just starting quarterbacks. The Chiefs have been hit by salary cap problems and poor play in recent years when their starting quarterback went down. Things were so bad at the position that one of John Dorsey’s first moves was to overpay Chase Daniel to come to Kansas City and be Alex Smith’s backup – Smith, of course, being the guy the Chiefs gave up two second round picks to obtain.
Being able to draft and develop your own quarterbacks does not stop at starting quarterback. The $3 million in potential savings the Chiefs could receive in 2015 should Daniel be cut is extremely valuable. Quality, affordable play at quarterback at every level is the most valuable thing an NFL team can have on their roster. It appears Dorsey is making an effort to improve that quality and depth.
For his part, Murray may be the Chiefs’ best quarterback prospect since Todd Blackledge was the seventh overall pick in 1983. Tony Dungy went as far as to say Murray was the best quarterback prospect in the draft before Murray tore his ACL. Not a shabby pick in the fifth round, no?
Murray brings the core of what Andy Reid is looking for in a quarterback with him: he’s smart, extremely accurate, and can make all the throws both in the short passing game and the deep passing game. No, he’s not going to launch a ball 85 yards, but how often does a quarterback ever really need to do that? Murray proved he has plenty of arm for the down field passing attack while at Georgia, and had a great deal of success doing it.
It would seem as if Alex Smith will be around a few more years to be the starting quarterback. Should the plan change, Murray has the tools to step in and be a starting NFL quarterback. Will he ever get the shot to be that guy with the Chiefs is the question.