American freak Kyler Murray keeps $210,000 for swindling Oakland Athletics

Hidden in the fine print of American phenom Kyler Murray’s decision to walk away from $6.5 million is his insulting $300,000 handshake for doing absolutely nothing.

Hidden in the fine print of American phenom Kyler Murray’s decision to walk away from more than $6.5 million with the Oakland Athletics is his insulting $300,000 handshake for doing absolutely nothing.

The freakish talent on Tuesday hammered home the final nail in his brief and turbulent stint with Oakland when he confirmed his decision to nominate for this year’s NFL Draft.

Murray won the Heisman Trophy playing College football with Oklahoma last season, despite being picked up by Major League Baseball’s Athletics with the No. 9 overall draft pick at the start of last year.

Oakland knew there was a chance Murray might chose footbal lover baseball.

That is exactly what happened.

The consequences for the iconic “Moneyball” team are both comical and disastrous.

The outfielder agreed to a minor league contract with Oakland for a $6.55 million ($US4.66m) signing bonus in July. The deal called for him to receive $US1.5 million after approval last summer by Major League Baseball and $US3.16 million on March 1.

Murray’s decision instead to chase a career in the NFL after starring for Oklahoma at quarterback last season, means he is walking away from the $4.4 million he was guaranteed to receive next month.

Gooooooooooone.

Murray must also return six-sevenths of the $US1.5 million he has already received — or $1,285,714.

It still leaves Murray walking away with almost $300,000 for doing absolutely nothing for the Athletics.

The 21-year-old has in essence hoodwinked the Athletics into paying him a very fine salary for the pleasure of watching him play football for Oklahoma.

Part of the severance deal means Oakland retains Murray’s draft rights should he backflip and hope to return to baseball.

According to The Athletic, Oakland is still holding out hope they will be able to convince Murray to re-think his decision to play the rival sporting code.

Their best weapon is that they are now able to offer Murray a deal worth anything they are willing to pay.

The flip side to their ability to potentially offer him more than the NFL is that the NFL’s rookie draft contract scale is much richer than the deals handed out to star MLB rookies.

First round draft picks at this year’s NFL Draft can earn up to $US34 million through their four-year rookie contracts.

According to reports, even if Murray slips through to the second round of the draft in April, he will need just one season in the NFL to re-claim the $4.4 million he is walking away from with the A’s.

His decision is a double edged blow for Oakland — they will not receive compensation for losing Murray to the NFL.

While there is a provision for a team to get an extra draft pick in the following draft if it fails to sign a player selected prior to the fourth round, there is no such provision for a player who simply chooses the NFL.

Kyler Murray still has a shot at the No. 1 NFL Draft pick.

The team’s brand has also taken a hit — big time.

The Ringer reported this week MLB met with the Athletics to scrap the rule prohibiting teams from offering MLB contract to drafted players in an unprecedented step to convince Murray to stay.

Still, he walked.

The report claims it is “embarrassing” for the Athletics to have committed totally to Murray while failing to secure the same commitment in return.

Even worse, the team reportedly found out the bad news via Twitter like everyone else when Murray announced his commitment to football on social media.

On the day the A’s started spring training workouts, Murray said he will pursue a career in the NFL.

“I am firmly and fully committing my life and time to becoming an NFL quarterback,” Murray tweeted.

“Football has been my love and passion my entire life. I was raised to play QB, and I very much look forward to dedicating 100 per cent of myself to being the best QB possible and winning NFL championships.

“I have started an extensive training program to further prepare myself for upcoming workouts and interviews. I eagerly await the opportunity to continue to prove to NFL decision makers that I am the franchise QB in this draft.”

Baseball never had a chance.

Murray passed for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns last season as the Sooners landed a second straight College Football Playoff berth. He ran for 1,001 yards and another 12 scores, posting the second-best passer efficiency rating in Bowl Subdivision history.

He declared himself eligible for April’s NFL draft last month. He is not a prototypical NFL quarterback at just 5-foot-10and 195 pounds, but his skills make him an intriguing option.

The A’s thought so, too.

“We took the best athlete on the board and who we thought was probably the best baseball player on the board, too,” Athletics general manager David Forst said.

“We’ve known all along this was a possibility. We knew he had a great option in the NFL,so we’ve known for a while that there was a chance this was going to happen.”

Murray rolled the dice and came up with $300k.

Oakland rolled the dice and came up with nothing.

— with AP

Originally published as American freak Kyler Murray keeps $210,000 for swindling Oakland Athletics