Cardinals pick up Kyler Murray's fifth-year option; QB under contract through 2023

April 27 (UPI) -- The Arizona Cardinals picked up star quarterback Kyler Murray's fifth-year option Wednesday, keeping him under contract through the 2023 season.

The move fulfills the pledge that Cardinals general manager Steve Keim made earlier this year at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

At the combine in March, Keim said the team would pick up Murray's option -- a day after Murray's agent, Erik Burkhardt, posted a letter on social media explaining how a detailed contract proposal was delivered to the franchise.

Keim said last week that timing would be at the center of any potential new deal, and it wouldn't be before this week's NFL Draft.

"The way we've approached it is we have free agency, we have the draft, and then we'll take a deep breath and sort of refocus," Keim said. "That's the same reason that every other player that's been a third-year quarterback has been done in the middle of the summer to late summer.

"It's no different for us, it's just sort of the way that the system works. But nothing has changed in terms of him being our long-term and short-term quarterback."

Murray is now officially locked up with the Cardinals for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The 2023 year that was added with the option guarantees him a salary of about $29 million.

The 24-year-old Murray, who was taken No. 1 overall in the 2019 draft, was set to enter the final year of his rookie deal, making him eligible for an extension that Murray's agent has publicly called for.

While there has been speculation about the future of Murray this off-season, Keim previously said there was "zero chance" the quarterback would be traded.

Murray was the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019. The two-time Pro Bowl selection led the Cardinals to improved win totals in each of his first three seasons and guided the franchise to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2015.