Kyler Murray would have to repay large portion of A's bonus to pursue NFL career

Two-sport superstar Kyler Murray has some big decisions to make. Decisions that will not only impact the course of his career in athletics, but decisions that will impact his financial future.

The 2018 Heisman Trophy winner is already locked into a contract with the Oakland Athletics after being selected ninth overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. But he’s also recently hinted at further pursuing a career in football, with his obvious end goal being the NFL. Such a decision, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports, would force Murray to repay a significant portion of his A’s signing bonus.

Murray’s decision will have to come fairly soon. That’s in part based on Oakland’s expectations that Murray would only play one season of college football, before reporting and committing to baseball this spring. But NFL teams have to know, too, which way Murray is committing before April’s draft.

Murray’s agent, Scott Boras, has been adamant this winter that Murray is committed to playing baseball. However, when addressing the situation Wednesday at the baseball’s winter meetings in Las Vegas, he seemed to soften that stance somewhat.

“When you win the Heisman Trophy, you’re going to have a lot of information come to you and be looked at,” Boras said. “All I know is that Kyler has a tremendous opportunity to be a great baseball player. He knows that.”

Financial decision

Pursuing an NFL career might cost Murray most of his MLB signing bonus, but he would likely make up for it and then some with his first NFL contract. Some football experts believe he’d be a first-round pick, which is guaranteed big money. All that’s needed for it to happen is his commitment to football. Murray got $5 million guaranteed from the A’s, but would be years away from his first truly massive baseball contract. He’d also have to prove himself worthy of such a deal, which isn’t guaranteed.

The biggest risk connected to his decision is injury. The longer Murray tries to do both, the higher the risk certainly is. It was an NFL injury that prevented Bo Jackson from reaching his full potential in both sports. But who’s to say a baseball injury couldn’t do the same to Murray’s football career.

It’s a lot for a 21-year-old to weigh, but when you’re as young and talented as Murray is, we wouldn’t blame him for giving both sports his best shot and putting off the final decision for as long as possible.

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