Former Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said that Nick Bosa warned them about drafting Kyler Murray over him back in 2019.
The 2023 NFL Draft begins on Apr. 27 and concludes on Apr. 29, as all 32 teams look to improve their rosters by selecting college players in hopes of them being difference makers this upcoming season and beyond. Every NFL Draft season, fans ad media members will look back at previous years to analyze whether a team made the right decision, or they made a gigantic error. That is, of course, the power of hindsight.
Back in 2019, the Arizona Cardinals held the first-overall pick and used it on Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray. With this decision, it left Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa on the board, and it allowed the San Francisco 49ers to select him with the second overall pick.
During an appearance on FOX Sports’ “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” former Cardinals general manager Steve Keim recalled when he and now ex-head coach Kliff Kingsbury met with Bosa in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for a pre-draft visit. After having dinner, Keim said that Bosa put himself and Kingsbury in “basically a headlock,” and told them, “I think you guys are probably going to take that little QB — and if you do — I will haunt you for the rest of your career.”
Steve Keim recalls Nick Bosa warning Cardinals he will ‘haunt’ them if they drafted Kyler Murray over him
Keim told Cowherd that when he got into the vehicle he looked at Kingsbury and said, “God hope he can’t catch him,” in reference to Bosa going after Murray.
The Cardinals, one year removed from selecting Josh Rosen in the first-round, used the first-overall pick on Murray to become their face of the franchise. Murray has had his moments throughout his four-year career where he looked like a legitimate top quarterback in the NFL. However, he has dealt with multiple injuries thus far, including a torn ACL suffered late in the 2022 season.
Meanwhile, Bosa became one of the top pass rushers in the entire NFL since making his debut. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2019, but tore his ACL two games into his second season. Upon returning, Bosa didn’t lose a step, as he led the NFL in tackles for loss with 21 in 2021.
Then this past season, he easily won Defensive Player of the Year after leading the entire league with 18.5 sacks. Besides the sack total, Bosa recorded 51 combined tackles (41 solo, 10 assisted), 48 quarterback hits, 19 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles in 16 games played.
Bosa is currently entering the final year of his contract with the 49ers, where he is set to earn $17.86 million for the 2023 season. Meanwhile, Murray signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract ahead of this past season.
The debate as to whether the Cardinals made the right decision drafting Murray over Bosa will continue, and perhaps with more years to go by, there can be a definitive answer to that down the road.