OAKLAND — The A’s wanted Kyler Murray bad enough to offer the Heisman Trophy winner an additional $14 million to stick to his original plan to play major league baseball, according to a published report.
Murray, the No. 9 overall pick in the baseball draft, accepted a $4.66 million bonus to play for the A’s — but only after he completed his final year of football eligibility Oklahoma. On June 15, Murray took batting practice at the Coliseum and was introduced to players as well as manager Bob Melvin as V.P, of operations Billy Beane and agent Scott Boras talked in superlatives about the outfielder’s baseball potential.
During a press conference preceding the batting practice session, Murray played it close to the vest, never directly answering the question of whether he would be tempted by the NFL
Then Murray went out and passed for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns for the Sooners, NFL teams stopped being overly concerned by his size (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) and it was clear he could make much more money playing football.
“Circumstances change,” Kyler’s mother Missy Murray told Sports Illustrated. “Nobody knew he’d be in this position.
With the A’s realizing they were about to lose their top draft pick to football, Sports Illustrated reported that a contingent that included owner John Fisher, Beane and a major league marketing executive visited Murray in his home town of Dallas in January to sweeten the pot.
The offer reportedly was for an additional $14 million in cash, bringing Murray’s total money to roughly the equivalent of Roquan Smith, the No. 8 pick of the Chicago Bears in last season’s NFL draft.
Murray turned it down, and on Feb. 11 announced in Twitter he was “firmly and fully” committing to football. He is the favorite to be the No. 1 overall selection on April 25 by the Arizona Cardinals, although G.M. Steve Keim said the franchise has yet to make that decision.
