Arizona Cardinals place Colt McCoy on IR, promote Trace McSorley to roster

Colt McCoy had a nice season for the Arizona Cardinals in 2021, so much so they brought him back for another year. However, he’ll be hampered by injury to begin a new campaign.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the franchise placed the former Texas great on the Injured Reserve on Wednesday, forcing him to miss at least four games.

“The #AZCardinals have placed QB Colt McCoy on Injured Reserve and promoted Trace McSorley to the active roster from the practice squad,” tweeted Rapoport. “McCoy is out four games.”

McCoy appeared in eight games last season under head coach Kliff Kingsbury, starting in three of them. He completed 74.5% of his passes while throwing for 740 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Arizona went 2-1 in the games McCoy started in during a crucial stretch of the season.

In the wake of McCoy’s injury, former Penn State star Trace McSorely will be Murray’s backup, as Rapoport mentioned. McSorely has been searching for a home in the NFL since leaving the Nittany Lions, and McCoy’s injury could open up the door for the quarterback.

Nevertheless, the Cardinals are hoping neither quarterback has to play in meaningful action this season, as the franchise just inked starting quarterback Kyler Murray to a monster extension. With that kind of money comes great expectations, and the Cardinals will need him healthy to reach them.

More on Colt McCoy, Arizona Cardinals QBs

Moreover, the Cardinals signed Kyler Murray to a monster extension earlier this offseason, ending a saga between the star quarterback and the franchise.

“Cardinals are giving QB Kyler Murray a five-year extension that ties him to Arizona for six more years, per source,” tweeted Adam Schefter of ESPN earlier this offseason. “.. Update: Kyler Murray’s contract extension keeps the two-time Pro Bowl QB under contract through the end of the 2028 season.”

Additionally, Schefter added that Murray will become one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the entire league, entering a new stratosphere.

“Cardinals are giving Kyler Murray a five-year, $230.5 million deal that includes $160 million guaranteed, per source. It gives Murray the second highest paid QB average at $46.1 million per year,” tweeted Schefter. ” .. Negotiations have been going on for months. @ErikBurkhardt of @RocNationSports and Cards’ GM Steve Keim worked on the deal into last night, before capping it off this morning.”

In three seasons with the Cardinals, Murray has completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 11,480 yards and 70 touchdowns, throwing 34 interceptions. Moreover, a dual-threat quarterback, Murray has rushed for 1,786 yards and 20 touchdowns, making him just one of two players in NFL history with 10,000 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards in his first three seasons.

In addition to his monster contract, the Cardinals also got Murray another star wide receiver in his former college teammate Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Instead of using their first round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the franchise decided to send it to Baltimore to re-unite the dynamic duo at the professional level.

The Cardinals have made the playoffs under the guidance of Kyler Murray, but the former Oklahoma star is now being paid Super Bowl caliber money by Arizona. The franchise will be expecting more out of their star quarterback, and Murray has shown to be up to the task thus far in his career.