Late Friday night, an AFC general manager was offering his thoughts on potential landing spots for newly released wideout DeAndre Hopkins when he asked a question that could ultimately reshape the Arizona Cardinals.

“What do you think they do with [Kyler] Murray?”

On its face, it would seem like an odd question to ask about a 25-year-old quarterback who just signed a five-year, $230.5 million extension one season ago. Even with Murray suffering a season-ending ACL tear in December, the logical path for a quarterback with his talent would seem typical: get Murray healthy; get him back on the field; get back to the plan that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The only complication to that logic is that plans can change quickly in this league — especially when the general manager who selected Murray (Steve Keim) and the head coach plucked specifically to develop the quarterback (Kliff Kingsbury) are both gone. Now you can add Murray’s No. 1 wideout to that mix, with Hopkins getting his release on Friday.

When it comes to Murray’s most powerful advocates in Arizona’s building, the herd has thinned considerably. Hence, a general manager in the AFC wondering if Murray might be the next big divorce in Arizona.