Arizona Cardinals: 3 Potential Replacements For Carson Palmer
By Erik Lambert
The Arizona Cardinals have some pretty big roster decisions ahead of them in the 2017 offseason, none of them of the easy variety either.
There are plenty of pending free agents to sort through with pass rusher Chandler Jones at the top of the list. Getting him a new deal is big. Even so it’s becoming apparent that the Cardinals brass can no longer ignore the elephant in the room. Carson Palmer is approaching the end of his career. The three-time Pro Bowler had quite the renaissance in Arizona, something that has become popular with that team over the years.
Though he threw for 4,233 yards and 26 touchdowns there was a noticeable decrease in his overall efficiency and effectiveness. A lot of that may be contributed to the fact that he’s 37-years old. The clock is ticking on how much longer the Cardinals can hope to lean on him to propel their offense. Even with a star running back like David Johnson in place.
Head coach Bruce Arians, a notorious straight shooter, didn’t hold back in his assessment of the situation. He made it perfectly clear that the Cardinals will be active in the search for a possible successor this off-season.
"“I hope to. That will be one of our main objectives in the offseason is to make sure the franchise isn’t in the situation it was after Kurt (Warner), that the next guy is here and ready to roll.”"
Arians is certainly a realist. He, like many in that organization knows what happened after Warner retired in 2010. The franchise went down the tubes as a flurry of forgettable quarterbacks tried to fill that gaping void. Not being prepared for his departure was a big reason why that happened. A mistake the organization doesn’t seem intent on repeating. If that’s the case, who are some names they might target?