After weeks of speculation and a bizarre interview with Dan Patrick where he might as well have been replaced by a mime, Kyler Murray has made his choice: It's football, not baseball.
- Kyler Murray (@TheKylerMurray) February 11, 2019
Murray, who will be forfeiting more than $4 million that would have been coming from the Athletics (who picked him in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft), had recently announced he planned to attend the NFL Combine.
With Spring Training with the Athletics about to begin -- and the team believing they were still in negotiations with him -- Murray finally chose football.
And the Murray news should be of interest to the Giants, who have the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft.
One NFL source recently told SNY's Ralph Vacchiano he would be "surprised" if the Giants didn't take a quarterback within the first two rounds of the Draft, and they can now add Murray to Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins, Missouri's Drew Lock, Duke's Daniel Jones and West Virginia's Will Grier -- who could be an option on Day 2.
The biggest knock on Murray has been his height, which has been reported at 5-foot-10. However, some believe he is closer to 5-foot-8. Murray does have the option to not be measured if he so desires.
But Murray has proven to be effective at the highest level, throwing for 4,361 yards, 42 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions in his Heisman season. He has a strong arm, and his speed and elusiveness are also invaluable in today's NFL.
The other risk that comes with drafting Murray is that he is not totally out of the grasp of the Oakland A's just yet.
While he must forfeit his $4.6 million signing bonus, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the A's can still offer Murray a major-league contract, which would have no financial restrictions and therefore likely top any rookie contract he can receive in the NFL.
The A's believe Murray's agent crafted his statement on Monday and if he falters at all in the combine or his stock slides in the draft, he could very well reconsider his position, according to Rosenthal.
It will be very interesting to see how his draft stock shapes out heading into April.