49ers DE Nick Bosa reportedly warned Cardinals he'd 'haunt' them if they drafted 'that little' QB Kyler Murray
When the Arizona Cardinals owned the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, they had a choice: They could take Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray — despite having selected Josh Rosen in the first round the year prior — or Ohio State pass rusher Nick Bosa. Both were productive college players with game-changing abilities. But only one could be a Cardinal.
Many predicted — correctly — the Cardinals would end up taking Murray because of newly hired head coach Kliff Kingsbury's affinity for quarterbacks and Rosen's horrific rookie season. But the defense was also a need, so Kingsbury and then-Cardinals general manager Steve Keim both met with Bosa in Florida for a pre-draft visit.
After the dinner, Keim said Bosa issued him and Kingsbury a bit of a warning if they drafted Murray instead of him with the first pick.
“He puts his arm around me and Kliff Kingsbury, both of us, in basically a headlock,” Keim said Friday on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd." “And he said, ‘I think you guys are going to end up taking that little quarterback, and if you do,’ he looked over at me and said, ‘Steve, I will haunt you for the rest of your career.'”
When Keim and Kingsbury returned to their hotel, Keim said he looked at Kingsbury and said, "'Man, I hope he can't catch him.'"
Nick Bosa gave the Cardinals a warning ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft 😅
(via @TheHerd) pic.twitter.com/NkV5sVEx7q— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 22, 2023
The NFC West division rival San Francisco 49ers drafted Bosa with the No. 2 pick, but he hasn't "haunted" Murray and the Cardinals the way he said he would. Bosa only sacked Murray once in four games where the two faced off, and not until 2021. Bosa has also tallied just 3 total sacks, 11 quarterback hits and 2 forced fumbles in seven games against the Cardinals.
But maybe Bosa meant it in a different way. The Cardinals haven't improved much since they drafted Murray. Arizona has just one winning season with Murray under center and lost its only playoff game in four years. The Cardinals also finished with a top-15 offense and defense twice during that span — in 2020 and 2021 — but are 10-12 in home games.
The 49ers, meanwhile, have had a top-10 defense every year Bosa played the majority of games (he missed almost the entire 2020 season with a torn ACL). This past season, Bosa won Defensive Player of the Year with an NFL-leading 18.5 sacks. He also recorded a career-high 48 quarterback hits and added 19 tackles for a loss. San Francisco also finished with the league's stingiest defense in points and yards allowed.
The trio of Keim, Kingsbury and Murray aren't doing so well. Keim stepped down from his post this past offseason, the Cardinals fired Kingsbury and Murray is expected to miss part of the 2023 season after he tore his ACL in 2022. The new regime of head coach Jonathan Gannon and new GM Monti Ossenfort will still have to contend with Bosa, though.
