Murray forfeits signing bonus as NFL awaits

Kyler Murray announced on social media Monday he is giving up baseball and will pursue his dreams of being an NFL quarterback. “Moving forward, I am firmly and fully committing my life to being an NFL quarterback,” Murray said in the post. “Football has been my love and my passion my entire life. I was raised to play QB and I very much look forward to dedicating 100 per cent of myself to being the best QB possible and winning NFL championships.” That shuts the door on the possibility he will play for Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics, who made him the No. 9 overall pick in last June’s draft. After the draft, Murray signed with the A’s and received a $4.66-million signing bonus.

According to published reports, Murray will return $1.29 million of the $1.5 million he received last year. He forfeits the remaining $3.16 million due March 1. The A’s will also put Murray on the restricted list and retain his rights, but they will not receive a compensatory draft pick. Murray was granted permission to play one final year of football at the University of Oklahoma last fall before reporting to the A’s and he won the Heisman Trophy, awarded to U.S. college football’s most outstanding player. Some NFL mock drafts have Murray being drafted in the first round and Murray would be the first athlete drafted in the first round by both an NFL and MLB franchise, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

At Oklahoma, Murray guided the Sooners to a 12-2 record, an appearance in the College Football Playoff and a No. 4 final ranking. The redshirt junior passed for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns and rushed for 1,001 yards and 12 scores. Aside from the Heisman, Murray’s lengthy list of honours includes the Manning Award, Davey O’Brien Award, AP Player of the Year, USA Today Player of the Year and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.